


Beneath the Hollow Tree

by notmyyacht



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Fantasy AU, M/M, Sastiel Big Bang 2013, Wolf!Sam, faun!Cas
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-05
Updated: 2013-12-05
Packaged: 2018-01-03 12:29:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 23,328
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1070481
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/notmyyacht/pseuds/notmyyacht
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In a world of fantasy and prejudice, one faun changes everything when he saves the life of his sworn enemy, a werewolf-like creature named Sam. When the Wolves and the herbivore creatures start itching for war against one another, it's up to Sam and the faun, Cas, to stop it before the entire forest is destroyed.</p>
<p>Artwork by the awesome sammycolt24: http://sammycolt24.livejournal.com/6602.html</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> A big thank you to my betas and the wonderful sammycolt24 on livejournal for doing fantastic artwork for this!

The ground trembles. Any creatures awake look around for the source. As the howling in the distance confirms their fears, they jump to their feet or hooves and immediately bolt in the opposite direction. Screams of panic awakens any still asleep.

“Please help us!” a faun shrieks at the Centaur, Gabriel, as she passes by him.

“Damn it,” he mutters as his brother Raphael runs up to his side.

“The Wolves are approaching.”

“No duh.”

“Make sure no one is left behind and if they are, then they are lost.” Raphael bounds away with the panicking crowd.

Another howl echoes amongst the trees. Gabriel tenses. It was louder, closer. Just as he is able to catch a glimpse of fur through the trees, he takes off from the fleeing beasts.

If Gabriel was better at anything more than his brothers, it was speed. He halts in front of the oak tree he had left his friend in earlier that evening.

“Castiel! Castiel, wake up!” Gabriel bucks his front hooves up, circling the tree. “Castiel! You lazy faun!”

A brush of dark messy hair and ram antlers pokes through the branches; the owner wearing an irritated and tired look on his face.

Castiel has dark fur and black hooves, which allow him to disappear in the dark branches of the tree rather easily. His antlers curl from out of the back top of his head sideways circling his ears once and pointing upward. Around his neck hangs a set of pan pipes.

“Castiel, get down!”

A loud howl echoes not far from the tree. Cas is now fully awake, his eyes wide with fear.

“Cas, jump down!”

Cas nods then pushes himself off the branch he had been sleeping in. He lands on Gabriel’s back and grabs onto the light brown mane that runs down from the top of the centaurs head and between his shoulder blades. Gabriel runs.

Cas does not particularly enjoy The Great Forest at night. The overtop of trees blocks out any moonlight, making travel almost impossible.

“Do you even know where you’re going?” he asks.

“I know enough.”

Castiel clings to Gabriel as he keeps an eye on their tail. He squints. Through the darkness there are two small glowing lights that are moving towards them.

“Gabriel, run faster! One of them is gaining on us!”

“Hold on tight!” Gabriel calls back. Cas wraps his arms around his shoulders.

The Wolf barks at them.

“How many are there?” Gabriel asks, making a sharp turn around a thick tree.

“From what I can tell, only one.”

The Wolf doesn't falter behind them. It snarls, its jaws making snapping noises as they open and close.

“Gabriel, it’s on your tail!”

Gabriel lets out a loud groan as the Wolf clamps its jaws on his back thigh muscle. Cas extends his hoof awkwardly backward and kicks it in the snout. The Wolf yelps and lets go, its claws slashing Gabriel’s leg, causing him to lose balance.

The centaur stumbles over a log and Cas goes flying into an open area next to a large rocky hill. At the crease where the hill meets the ground is a mouth to a cave.

Cas sits up and quickly checks to make sure nothing is broken. He looks back to where Gabriel had fallen. Gabriel looks up, a large cut on his eyebrow drips blood into his eye.

“Go!” he shouts.

Cas jumps up to his hooves. He spots the Wolf regaining its own footing behind Gabriel. Cas’ eyes flicker in several directions. His gaze finally settles on the cave. He races for it. Behind him the Wolf has spotted him and snarls as it jumps after him.

Cas leaps into the cavern, quickly hiding behind a large boulder near the entrance. He ducks down, trying his best to flatten himself into the shadows. Save a foot or two from the opening, the cave is pitch black. The darkness goes on and on into a seemingly never-ending rocky tunnel.

The Wolf sniffs outside the mouth of the cave on all fours. Cas’ breathing is rapid, but quiet. The Wolf takes a step closer to the ledge of the dirt where it drops off into the cavern. He sniffs and lets out a low growl. Cas squeezes his eyes shut.

_It’s the end_ , he thinks.

The Wolf takes another step too close to the drop-off and the dirt gives way under him. He emits a yelp as he tumbles into the mouth of the cavern.

Cas slips a small gasp and pushes himself against the wall. Moonlight streams down across his face. The Wolf shakes the dirt off himself then looks up -directly at Cas.

“There you are,” the Wolf grins and loudly growls, his voice echoing against the cavern walls. He slowly approaches the faun on all fours, his large, powerful arms stretching out, ready to leap.

Cas glances at the quickly closing gap between the Wolf and the cave exit.

A shrilling screech reverberates from the darkness of the tunnel. Cas’ hands jump to cover his ears. The Wolf cringes and curls his head in. His own hands clutch onto his ears. The ground rumbles and Cas suddenly realizes what cave he picked to hide in.

From within the darkness, a flock of harpies flies forward, toward the cave exit, toward Cas and the Wolf.

Cas’ eyes widen. He jumps to the top of the boulder he was hiding behind and bounds to the top of the drop-off.

“Oh no you don’t!” The Wolf growls, extending out a clawed hand and snatches Castiel’s left ankle. Cas kicks his free hoof at the hand, causing the Wolf to let go. The Wolf once again loses his footing and tumbles back down into the cavern.

Cas limps to the treeline of the clearing, he suspects his ankle is likely bruised. He leans against a tree and tries to catch his breath.

Several harpies fly out of the cave. Horrible, ugly creatures harpies. Scavengers that eat dead animals and any small defenseless ones that cross their paths. Half bird, half human, with human heads and torsos with feathered wings and sharp talons for arms and legs. The centaurs warn fauns to not disturb their caves, for they’re sure to kill you.

Cas shivered, glad to be out of the harpy cave and away from the Wolf.

_They’ll kill that monster. Good… it was only going to kill me anyway_ , thought Cas, leaning his head against the tree. From outside the cave, Cas can hear the Wolf’s cries of agony.

_They’re probably tearing him apart. He deserves it… doesn’t he?_

A painful howl escapes the cavern.

“Damn it,” Cas mutters under his breath and gets to his feet.

He leans against the grass next to the entrance and lifts the pipes he keeps tied around his neck up to his mouth. He plays a loud, irritating tune with no melody. The harpies inside the cave screech and fly out of the cave and into the night sky. Cas quickly jumps into the cave.

With the disturbance of the dozen or so harpies, the drop-off is now a graceful slide of dirt from the outside into the mouth, allowing more moonlight in.

The Wolf lies on his stomach. Long, bloody scratches run down his back and on his arms and legs. Cas slowly approaches the Wolf, careful to keep some distance between them.

“Hey, are you okay?”

The Wolf doesn’t answer, but he’s breathing. Cas wonders if he passed out from the blood loss. He tries again.

“Uh, hello?”

“You’re still… here?” the Wolf finally mutters.

“Yeah um, you okay?”

The Wolf moves his whole body with a low groan and is able to push himself to roll onto his back. He hisses at the contact of dirt on his wounds.

“You might not want to move,” says Cas.

“Yeah, I get that.”

“What’s your name?” Cas asks.

“S… Sam,” the Wolf manages to rasp before slipping into unconsciousness. 


	2. Chapter 2

Sam is awakened by the shift of rocks by his head. His eyes fly open and he glances around himself. Daylight shines down into the mouth cavern. The cave itself is quiet and unmoving in life. The scent of the faun still lingers, although he must have left hours ago.

He gets to his feet and looks down the tunnel. In the day, the cave seems less threatening. It’s quiet, still dark, but one could look further in. Not that there was much to see. Only rock. Sam’s ears perk up at the distant sound of a stream somewhere at the end of the tunnel.

Sam looks down at himself. He runs a finger across his chest that he prominently remembered a harpy had left a deep and painful gash. Not even a scar. He was completely healed. In fact, Sam notices he feels more rested than he has in months.

“The faun,” he mutters. He could remember those innocent blue eyes looking at him in the dark.

\--

When Sam returns to the caves, the rest of the pack has already returned, either fixing bandages or talking amongst themselves in small groups.

The Wolf Caves lie on the southern end of the beach, straight across from The Dead Mountain, about a mile away. The line of caves runs in a backward S-shape from where the rock meets the ocean all the way around into the treeline. The largest cave sits directly open to the beach.

A sandy-brown wolf is the first to spot Sam making his way out of the trees.

“Sammy!” he grins, leaping over to Sam.

“Hey Dean.”

Dean stands a few inches shorter than his younger brother. His tail also shorter and his sandy-brown fur is thinner.

Wolves’ bodies are much like that of a faun. Their feet are paws covered in thick fur that runs up their legs, over their hips and disappears as it reaches their chests, which have rather human-looking pectorals. Their upper bodies have less fur, but becomes almost like a mist of hair lightly lining from their forearms to their shoulders. From the hair on this wolf’s head is a line of misty fur that runs down the spine and darkens by the small of their backs where a tail begins that looks to be approximately the length of their thigh. Their hands look almost human save for the sharp claws that extend where human fingernails would be. If not for the large, pointed ears on their heads, from the waist up they could almost be mistaken for humans.

“Where’ve you been, man? Been worried about you,” Dean nudges Sam’s shoulder. Sam opens his mouth to explain, but stops when his eye catches the dried blood on Dean’s arm.

“You okay?”

Dean glances at the two long scratches that run curved down his forearm. He smiles.

“Would you believe it? Just as we were about to catch up with those meals, the centaurs get the jump on us.”

Sam tenses.

“What, just like I told Dad they would when we were strategizing?” Sam sneers.

“Sam-”

“Sam! You’re back. Where’ve you been, boy?” Sam and Dean turn towards the opening of the cave. All the wolves are looking at them, especially one particularly large black-furred wolf, who was already approaching the brothers. It’s John, the alpha Wolf, leader of the pack.

“Dad,” Sam nods in acknowledgement.

John wraps his arms around Sam’s shoulders.

“Glad to see you alive. Now where’ve you been?”

Sam shifts his weight onto his other foot.

“I was chasing a faun last night,” Sam explains. With every word,  John’s hands clench further into fists. “A centaur was helping it and they lead me to a harpy den.”

Dean tenses next to them. John turns to the other Wolves. They quickly avert their gazes and get back to whatever they were doing. John sets his eyes back on Sam.

“Phoenix shit. Now where’ve you really been?”

Sam searches his father’s face for any hint of a joke. He finds none.

“Are you serious?” Sam groans, “I almost got killed last night and you don’t believe me?”

Dean shrinks back an inch. Here comes the storm.

“I believe in facts. You’re _pack_ almost got killed last night and you go off doing Gods know what. Listen, pup, if you’re going to lie to my face at least make it look like you just returned from a harpy attack. There isn’t a damn scratch on you.”

“Yeah, except the faun…” Sam shuts his mouth.

“The faun what? We had a simple mission, Sam: attack the goats in the dead of night and catch our meal for the approaching winter. It’s not chase fauns for fun around the forest then pass out by a tree somewhere then return with some phoenix shit story.”

“Dad-”

“I don’t want to hear a thing from you, Dean,” John snarls at the older brother, “You should’ve kept an eye on him like I told you to.”

“Hey,  John!” a Wolf calls.

“One minute Bobby!” John growls over his shoulder.

“John, I’ve got the complete damage report you wanted. We’re ready for debriefing.”

John’s jaw clenches.

“We’re not done here,” he says to the brothers before turning to join the gray wolf that had drawn his attention away.

Sam releases the breath he didn’t realize he had been holding. He turns to Dean.

“Dean, I swear it's true. The faun I was chasing lead me to a harpy den and they attacked.”

“You look pretty good for being torn up by sharp-taloned buzzards,” says Dean, giving him a quick once-over. “What weren’t you telling dad?”

Sam glanced over to where John was talking with Bobby. He sometimes wished it was Bobby who was alpha. He used his head more while John was prone to jumping into things without completely thinking them through. Bobby had even backed Sam up when they were strategizing and the issue of the centaurs was brought up.

“When I chased that faun and the harpies attacked, I could have sworn it ran off, the faun. When they were on me –and Dean, I swear they were slicing me up pretty good- I suddenly heard this sound. It was music; pipes, the same type that fauns always carry around with them. And then the harpies flew off.”

“So the faun chased the buzzards away? How do you know they weren’t attacking him too?”

“Dean, it was more than just chasing them away. I could have sworn that when they did, I was maggot food. Gods, everything hurt and there was blood everywhere. I couldn’t even see properly. But the faun came back into the cave and asked if I was okay. The next thing I know I’m waking up and it’s morning.”

“Wait, you think the faun healed you? Why would he do that?”

“I don’t know,” Sam shrugs, “but I’m positive that I would still be there dead or near death if it hadn’t done something. And you know those stories about the faun’s music powers of healing.”

“But you were going to _kill_ it. Why would it help you?”

“I don’t know, Dean. But I swear that’s what happened.”

“I believe you... but I wouldn’t mention this to dad.”

Sam nods in agreement.

“Hey, you idjits!” Bobby calls from the cave opening, “debrief time.”

\--

Castiel had arrived back to his people before Sam had even woken up. Balthazar, a fellow faun with sandy fur and ragged, vertical horns, and Cas’ best friend, caught him up in what had happened.

It was a wolf attack with their targets being the fauns themselves. After evacuating everyone to the Apple Orchard, the centaurs were able to drive the Wolves away. Fortunately they didn’t catch any of them, but there were worries about Castiel’s disappearance.

“I’m alright. I got away unharmed,” Cas assures him.

“Yes, I can see that,” Balthazar smiles, “I should better inform Raphael that you’re here. I wanted to send out a search party for you, but he was convinced that you were either hiding or they killed you. I almost told the bastard to bite me. If any of the fauns were to survive last night, it would be you. You know this forest like the back of your hand.”

“I wouldn’t say that, but thank you.” Cas scans the area.

Fauns and fairies are quietly chatting or playing their music to keep busy. Cas can tell they’re restless and eager to be among the trees they’re more familiar with. Balthazar informs him that the centaurs had ordered they stay close together in the orchard for a day or two.

The Apple Orchard is one of the most beautiful and safest places in The Great Forest. Surrounded by thick pine trees, the orchard is a separate place of its own with a sustaining food supply and a fresh water stream that runs through it. Hidden within the forest, only certain species even know where to begin looking for it and even less where to find it on their own. A fortress within the forest. Not even humans can find it. If they did, their food supply in winters might not be so harsh. Wolves were forbidden to go into the orchard.

“Where’s Gabriel?” Cas asks. Balthazar points him in the right direction.

Gabriel lies under a tree, his horse hoofs tucked comfortably under him and his upper body leaning against the trunk, arms crossed. His eyelids are shut and his breathing is steady.

Cas walks up to him. Gabriel’s front is covered in bruises and a few scratches, his front thigh already wearing a healing scar from where he fell. His back thigh carries claw marks, which are already beginning to fade.

“Why haven’t they finished healing you?” Cas mutters.

“Because a little pain is good,” Gabriel states, one eye cracking open. The other eye follows as he looks up at Cas.

“Glad to see you alive,” says Gabriel.

“And you. Are you going to be all right?”

“Fit as a fiddle, kid. What happened to the mutt that was on my ass?”

 _Probably back with its pack by now_ , Cas thinks.

“Harpy waste by now.”

A smile spreads across Gabriel’s face.

“That clearing, that was the harpy den?”

“Yes.”

“What luck, huh?” Gabriel chuckles. Cas forces a smile.

“Yes, lucky.” Cas sits down next to him and lifts his pipes to his lips.

“C’mon, Castiel,” Gabriel groans, “let me have a battle scar. Maybe then my brothers will take me seriously.”

“They do take you seriously.”

“Yeah, just like they take berry picking seriously,” Gabriel sneers. Cas starts playing. “Yeah, fine. You just do your music healing thing.”

Cas ignores him and keeps playing. The scratches and bruises on Gabriel’s thighs and down his front fade completely as Cas plays on; the scarring scratch on his front leg eventually fades too.

Gabriel flashes an sardonic smile.

“If it wasn’t me, Raphael or Michael would just get someone else to,” Cas argues. Gabriel rolls his eyes.

\--

Sam is good at keeping his mouth shut. His father knew he was wrong, but he was not about to admit it in front of the pack. John is going over the night raid and where they went wrong. The pack sits in an oval, the alpha’s pups on his left side, Bobby on his right.

“It’s those damn centaurs,” a she-wolf chimes in, “we’re never going to get the goats as long as the centaurs are protecting them.”

“Ellen’s right,” Bobby adds, “doesn’t matter what time of day or whether or not they’re expecting us.”

A few agreeing murmurs resonate amongst the pack.

Sam clenches his teeth. He’s used to keeping his trap shut. Saying ‘told you so’ probably wouldn’t help the situation much either.

“Except this was a test,” says John. The murmurs fall silent. John stands up and starts walking around the inner oval. “It was to let them know we are through with this unofficial mutual peace between us. The food supply we gather in the autumn becomes slimmer every year and we keep our distance from them. Last winter we lost more than a couple of great Wolves, one pregnant with pups. We cannot let that happen again. The humans despise us, the centaurs treat us like monsters. Who are we to turn to but ourselves? We are the last of our kin in The Great Forest. We must do what we must to survive… even if that means starting a war against the centaurs for food.”

The pack is still for a moment. Sam stares up at his father with wide eyes. He jumps to his feet. Dean grabs hold of his wrist, but Sam jerks it out of his grasp.

“Are you crazy? We can’t go to war, much less even think to win it. There are only three centaurs, but the fauns aren’t weak. They can outrun us, they know the trees better than us, and they can heal themselves-”

“That’s only a myth!” a Wolf yells out.

“Dad,” Sam ignores the outburst and takes a step closer to John, “the other day this was just about snatching one or two fauns for food. Do you really want to take them all and probably end up killing half of us in the process?”

John’s face is blank.

“Sit down Sam,” he says.

“Dad! You can’t just-”

“I said sit down Sam,” John growls. Sam’s upper lip twitches and he turns outward.

“And what about the rest of you? You’d let half of us die just for a meal in the winter?”

“Sam, this is more than just for this winter, but for the future of our race in this forest,” John booms, whipping Sam around to face him. John’s face is now twisted and angry. “With the centaurs gone, it’ll be easier to hunt. We won’t have to skulk through the trees anymore. It will be a better life, son.”

Bobby stands up.

“Sam,” he says, his voice calm and steady, “this isn’t something the alpha has just thought up. We’ve been talking about it for a while.”

Sam turns toward Bobby, his mouth gaping. He says nothing and looks down at Dean who is staring hard back at him.

“Did you know?” Sam asks. Dean says nothing but breaks eye contact and casts his gaze down at the ground.

Sam turns around, eying the crowd. So eager to follow John into Hell itself. All of them. No matter how stupid the plan. Even Dean… especially Dean.

Yes, it sounded good. But what John implied was an air of confidence. He had something up his sleeve and Sam knew that he wasn’t going to tell anyone until it was too late. Gods, sometimes Wolves can be so damn conceited.

“What aren’t you telling us, dad?”

John doesn’t answer.

Sam grits his teeth then pushes through the line of Wolves and runs off into the woods.

\--

A deep breath of air is taken and held, eyes shut. Cas dips his head under the water, his body completely submerged. He waves his arms slowly, pushing the water around him. He stills, the water cool, while the surface is a wall between him and the rest of the world. But he must return to that world. He summersaults and kicks off the bottom of the pond to come up for air.

He knows he’s not supposed to be there. Although it’s not far, the pond is outside the orchard. The fauns were told to stay in the orchard, but Cas needed to get away if only for a few minutes.

Cas breaches the surface and sucks in the fresh air. He whips his head from side to side to shake any excess water out of his ears. His dark hair plasters to his face. He pushes his bangs out of his eyes. His ear turns to the treeline behind him just in time to catch the snap of a twig.

He ducks his head under the surface again, only this time he doesn’t go all the way under but keeps his eyes and the top of his head out of the water. His eyes frantically search the treeline for movement.

 _Perhaps Balthazar noticed my absence?_ He thinks, however, hesitating to call out.

Cas rises a bit to allow himself to breathe through his nose and slowly makes his way over behind a large rock sitting on the ledge between where the land and the pond meet. He stills, ears pointed and alert.

There’s a rustle of grass and then Cas can hear footsteps.

 _Not hooves. Something on two legs_ , he determines. Then he hears it, the familiar growling.

The unknown creature sits down and dangles its pawed feet in the water. Its breathing rather hard as if it’s been running.

“Damn it!” the creature snarls and chucks a pebble into the pond, startling Cas.

One hand on the rock, Cas slinks around it just enough to peer at the creature. His eyebrows jump into his hairline.

On the edge of the pond sits the Wolf from the night before. He sits with his shoulders slumped, his claws in his lap, and his head hung, causing his long brown hair to fall like a curtain between his face and the world.

Cas never saw a Wolf up close before in such good lighting. He finds that hiding in the hair on the top of his head are two furred ears that slump with the rest of his body. Cas wonders if the tail and ears are soft.

 _Sam, his name is_ , Cas reminds himself, _his name is Sam._

By now, Cas had lifted himself out of the water halfway to get a better look at Sam.

The Wolf sniffs. His ears perk up, his body suddenly alert. He turns his head and looks directly at the faun. Cas freezes in his spot.

 _Run! Run you fool!_  His instincts tell him, but Cas and Sam continue to stare at each other unmoving. The Wolf cocks his head to the side. The words leave Cas’ mouth before he can stop them.

“Hello. Nice day.”

Sam’s body tenses and his chest puffs in the air.

“You’re the faun I was chasing last night. The one that tricked me into the harpy nest,” he growls.

“I wasn’t aware that that cave had harpies living in it.”

Sam glares at him. Cas’ instincts yell at him to run again. Sam gets to his feet and takes a step closer to him.

“Did you… did you heal me?” he asks, body suddenly relaxing as if asking that was a giant weight lifted off his chest.

“Yes,” says Cas. His instincts relax somewhat.

“Why?”

It was the same question Cas had been asking himself since he left the safety of the trees to return to the cave.

“I was going to kill you, why the hell would you save me?” Sam asks again.

“Are you going to kill me now?” Cas’ voice quivers at the end of his sentence.

“No.”

“Why? I’m completely vulnerable here. The centaurs are with the rest of my kin. I’m alone. It’s the perfect opportunity.”

Sam shrugs.

“You saved my life. I’m returning the favor, I guess.”

Cas nods then climbs out of the water onto the edge of the pond. A silence falls upon them for a moment. Sam breaks it.

“So you like swimming?”

“Yes. Although I’m not a water creature, I find the pond a good way to get away from the idiosyncrasies of my fellow species. I love my kin, but sometimes…”

“You need to be alone,” Sam finishes. He sits down on the edge of the pond again.

“Yes,” agrees Cas as he joins him. “What do you do for alone recreation, if I may ask?”

Sam opens his mouth, then quickly shuts it and smiles nervously.

“I uh… heh,” he looks down at his hands in his lap, “don’t tell my dad but uh… I like sitting under trees.”

Cas sits up straighter in his spot, slightly taken aback.

“I guess we’re both guilty of not staying within our species-constructed boundaries,” says Sam.

“Is your father so against it? Usually my kin don’t particularly care.” Cas gives a half smile. "We are a lazy bunch."

“Yeah um, my dad is the alpha of our pack.”

Cas tenses up again.

“You’re the son of the leader of the Wolves?”

“Well, I also have my older brother Dean,” Sam pauses for a moment, then looks up at Cas and says, “you’re going to tell the centaurs aren’t you? You’re going to put me under a spell then bring me to them.”

“I suppose I should. You tried to kill me and my kin.”

“But,” Cas continues, “I don’t think I will.”

“Why not?”

Cas thinks for a moment, then replies, “Because this is nice and you’re not just some mindless meat-eating monster that we're raised to believe.”


	3. Chapter 3

The setting sun in the Apple Orchard is perhaps the most beautiful sight in the Great Forest that one could ever hope to see. Down the center of the orchard is a wider clearing where the sky is completely visible. If one were to stand at the farthest end of the orchard, while standing dead center in that clearing, it would look like the sky was an aura of the trees, the colors perfectly rising from the branches. As if the trees were setting instead of the sun. A work of art conducted by nature.

Night has fallen in the Apple Orchard and Cas couldn’t care less about the way the colors appear behind the trees.

An apple is dropped into Castiel’s lap, jolting him away from his thoughts. Balthazar sits down next to him.

“Cassie, you missed it.”

“What?”

“The sun set. The one that you always wanted to see if you ever got the chance to.”

Cas’ attention draws to the apple in his hands.

“They’re not ripe yet,” he drones.

“Oh eat it. Who’s going to know?” Balthazar rolls his eyes and elbows him. Cas absentmindedly turns the apple over in his hands.

“Cas, what is it? You’ve been acting strange since noon. I thought we were going to have lunch and you bailed on me. Now you’re missing the famous Apple Orchard sunset. The sunset men and Wolves can only dream of seeing some day.”

“I’m sorry. I needed to take a swim and clear my head.”

“‘Take a swim’? Cas, you left the orchard. I saw you slip out and don’t you try to deny it,” Balthazar quickly adds when Cas opens his mouth to do so, “I won’t tell anyone if you don’t. So what happened?”

“Nothing. I took a swim then came back.”

“Yes, except all afternoon you’ve been staring off into nothing. You haven’t eaten anything or played your music. You’re just staring-”

“I’m thinking, Balthazar.”

“About what?”

 _Sam_ , Cas wants to say. He and Sam parted from the pond without quarrel; almost friendly. Cas found he rather enjoyed Sam’s company, and what’s worse was that he wouldn’t mind having Sam’s company again. Sam. Intelligent, different, beautiful Sam; with his soft green eyes and sunshine smile. Sam who wanted to kill him one night, then have a civil conversation with him the next day. Cas had not expected gratitude for healing him. He had not expected anything from him.

“About the other night. It just shook me up a little.”

 _Balthazar wouldn’t understand. He’d call me a fool. Perhaps I am,_ he thinks.

“Uriel and Anna are taking their worries to the centaurs tonight,” Balthazar changes the subject, deciding he was not going to get anything else out of Cas for now.

“What for?”

“Well, you weren’t the only one shaken up the other night. While you were taking a dip I overheard them chatting about possibly doing something about the Wolf presence in the forest. Permanently. They wanted to talk to Michael and ask for help.”

 “What could they possibly do? Centaurs are strong but the Wolves have strength in numbers. The centaurs wouldn’t risk themselves. There’s only three of them.”

Balthazar shrugs. Cas shakes his head and bites into the apple.

\--

Cas sneaks out again that night. Once his fellow fauns are sound asleep, -especially Balthazar for if he knew, he’d sure to follow- Castiel tip-hoofs to the edge of the orchard and disappears through the thick trees to return to the pond.

Upon arriving, Cas jumps over to where he and Sam had been sitting earlier in the day. He plants himself down with a smile.

The pond is absolutely still, the surface reflecting the waxing crescent in the clear sky. A soft, cool breeze blows by, causing the water to ripple ever so slightly.

Cas is honestly not sure why he came back.

What were the odds of Sam returning as well? They didn’t agree to meet again or anything. But the faun is restless and can’t help but hope the Wolf will come anyway. He reaches up and wraps his fingers around the pipes, eager to play but does not for it would draw attention. He lowers his hand and tightly entwines his fingers in the grass.

\--

To a Wolf, it was not so late at night. However, the pack is still recovering from the other night and most are in need of extra sleep.

John was still discussing strategies with Ellen and Bobby, while Sam and Dean went to get some rest.

The brothers lay beside two fallen tree logs stacked on top of each other. Sam curls with his back to the camp while Dean is lying on his back, arms folded across his chest, the tips of his ears brushing against the logs.

“Hey Sam?” Dean nudges Sam’s paw-foot. Sam emits a groan.

“Are you asleep?” Dean whispers.

“What do you want?” Sam grumbles, attempting to make his voice sound more tired than he actually is. In fact, Sam is wide-awake with the futile hope that all the thoughts roaming around his head would tire his brain out.

“Have you talked to dad since this morning?”

“No.”

“You should. I think he’s planning something big-”

“Why don’t you talk to him then, Dean? He’s planning war. You were at the meeting.”

“Sammy, you and I know he wouldn’t be plan something this big without having something _huge_ up his sleeve.”

“Dad isn’t a human, Dean. He doesn’t have any sleeves…”

“For God’s sake, it’s an expression.” Dean shoves Sam’s feet away. “I just… I’m worried about him. Sometimes he acts before he thinks.”

“I _know_. Now Dean, will you please let me get some sleep?”

“For what it’s worth, I’m on your side about the whole war thing.”

Sam rolls his eyes and sits up to look at Dean eye-to-eye.

“Then why didn’t you say anything?”

“You know why.”

Sam sneers, “Right, you’re a good son. Living up to that when all he does is treat you like crap.”

“Sam, he’s not just our father, he’s the pack alpha. His word is law. We follow, we obey. We do everything he says because everything he does is for the good of the pack.”

Sam growls, then gets to his feet. He starts off toward the treeline.

“Now where are you going?” says Dean.

“To clear my head.”

“Isn’t that what you’ve been doing all day?”

“This time it’s so that I don’t break your jaw,” says Sam as he walks off, “I’ll be back before light.”

As soon as Sam is gone, Dean huffs then gets to his own feet. He checks to make sure John is still preoccupied, then slips off into the woods.

\--

A tired hoof kicks at a twig. Cas walks on, away from the pond but not back to the orchard.

Why did he save that Wolf anyway? Son of the alpha. It would have been best to let the abomination die. And yet Sam wasn’t so horrible. He was honorable and didn’t tear out Cas’ throat.

Cas climbs up into a tree and reclines back on the thickest branch. He lets one leg swing down and closes his eyes.

Sam isn’t like the other Wolves. Sam… no Cas barely knows Sam. He’s an enemy who would surely kill him if they should meet again. Why the hell was he waiting by the pond to see him again? What good would it do? But he can’t stop thinking about him… so fierce with those sharp claws but gentle in his eyes. No, it was just one time of peace between them, nothing more. Sam is a monster who wouldn’t blink at the thought of ripping a faun apart.

Cas’ eyelids begin to droop and his head falls back against the tree trunk. The muscles in his body start relaxing. At last, sweet sleep…

“Well, well, well, look what we have here.”

Cas opens his eyes. Not three feet in front of him hovers a small woman, no bigger than Cas’ hand, with short blond hair and a tight, short red dress. She isn’t wearing any shoes; the rapidly moving oval wings on her back keep her in the air. Behind her, sitting on a branch is another little woman with the same wings and long red hair.

Dark fairies.

The female fairy blows black dust into Castiel’s face before he can move. His eyes fall closed once again and everything goes dark.

\--

The scent of dark magic fills the air. Sam covers his nose and mouth with a disgusted groan.

While light magic, used by light fairies that do nothing but dance with fauns, gives off a sickeningly sweet scent, dark magic has a tendency of smelling like a mix of pepper, fish, and a decomposing animal carcass.

A Wolf’s sense of smell is the strongest of all creatures in The Great Forest, making the horrid odor ten times stronger. However, whatever creature one is, if the scent of dark magic invades the senses, dark fairies are around and up to no good.

Sam hears a branch break off somewhere in the dark. He squints. Through the trees he spots movement.

“What are dark fairies doing in this part of the forest?” Sam mumbles to himself. He crouches behind the bushes and slowly moves closer to where the repulsive stench grows stronger. His night vision allows him to see the figures clearer. He spots the cause of the dark magic.

The two dark fairies are pulling what looks like a limp body out of a tree. One hauls it by a leg, the other by an arm.

Sam’s eyes widen as he realizes that it’s a faun they’re carrying. The faun’s head dips backward, allowing Sam to get a look at its face.

“Castiel?”

The fairies pause and turn their heads in Sam’s direction. His cover blown, Sam rolls his eyes and bounds from the bushes.

“Put him down!” he snarls. The female fairy smirks.

“Bad dog! Go home,” she chuckles. The fairies snap their fingers and Sam is once again overwhelmed by the stench of dark magic. His eyes water. He looks up to where the fairies were. Nothing is left but a fading puff of glittering black smoke. 


	4. Chapter 4

Dark fairies are nasty, lying little monsters. They prefer to keep to themselves most of the time and away from politics. However, they do enjoy making deals with other creatures of the forest for services only dark magic can provide.

It’s the only place Sam can think that they would have taken the faun.

Despite the fact he had never been there before, Sam knows he’s getting close. Everyone knows where to find them. The Wolf prince sprints through the dark forest on all fours. The Clove of the Dark Fairies always stinks of dark magic, which is helpful for finding them in the middle of the night. He fears what they’ll do to the harmless goat, or what they’ll want from him. Gods, he hopes that Castiel is all right.

Sam skids to a halt, spotting a dim light through the trees. He crouches close to the ground and slowly approaches. He flattens himself against a tree as soon as he’s close enough to peer into the clove.

The Clove of the Dark Fairies is a moderately sized area of dead bushes and plants. The place is covered in fairies sitting around or hovering in the air. None of them seem to notice Sam. At the far end of the clove is a large pine tree where an empty throne is carved into the trunk. In front of the pine treeis a clearing where a fire burns at the center. Several fairies stand on the ground, beating a slow rhythm on drums. About ten or so fairies dance around the fire, jumping and flying around it, as sing a chilling tune.

_Let the fires of Hell burn_

_While our Devil King rules._

_Let them burn the goodness away_

_For the darkness has come to play._

_Burn your forest, burn your soul_

_For the King will devour them all._

Sam shudders as he tears his gaze from the dancing fairies. His eye catches an unconscious Cas tied up to a skinny tree beside the larger pine, his pipes sit on the opposite side of the throne. Sam curses to himself that there are two other small clearings with fires behind this one, making the clove have a triangular perimeter of three sections. There’s no way of getting to the faun without being spotted.

He wonders if he could take them.  Just rush in, grab Castiel, and run. No, not even with the pack could they take on all the dark fairies.

Sam is dragged from his thoughts by an erupting applause from the fairies. He takes a careful step closer to get a better look at what they’re cheering.

From behind the large pine steps a slightly overweight man with short dark hair and pointed ears. His tunic is a dark red poking out from under black robes. He’s shorter than Cas would be, if Cas were standing. There’s a smug smirk on his face as he raises his hands in the air, basking in the cheers of his smaller subjects. Atop his head is a crown made of leaves and pine needles.

The Fairy King turns around in a circle and faces Castiel. He presses a finger to his lips and a silence falls on the fairies. He bends over to touch Cas’ head, but stops halfway. The King crooks his head to the side and stares directly at Sam, who freezes to his spot.

“Well, well, well. What do we have here?” the King grins. All the fairies turn their heads in Sam’s direction.

Sam takes a step back, preparing to make a run for it, and perhaps grabbing Castiel in the process.

“Please, won’t you join us?”

Before the Wolf can make his move, the two fairies that had taken Cas shove Sam forward, causing him to fall face down at the King’s bare feet.

The King runs his fingers through Sam hair enough to lace them in and make a tight grip in the brown locks. He pulls Sam’s face up so that the King is in his face.

“You… you’re Crowley, aren’t you?” says Sam.

“Your daddy tell bedtime stories about me, pup? Gods, the size you are, I’m surprised you’re not a moose.”

Sam wrinkles his nose at him and moves to push himself up.

“Ah, ah, ah, I wouldn’t move if I were you. See, my dear associates told me you had seen them take the faun. Guessed you might come looking for it. Besides, if you were going to attack us, you would have done it already. Sorry about stealing your midnight snack.”

“Why do you want him?”

Crowley releases Sam’s hair and walks over to the still unconscious Cas. He runs a finger over one of Cas’ curled antlers. The Fairy King turns to Sam.

“None of your business, Moose. Now I’m only going to say this once. Run along and don’t come back here. Meg, m’dear, help the pup to his feet.”

Meg, the blond fairy who had taken Cas grabs hold of Sam’s shoulder and pulls him to his feet.

“Better go, sweetie. Crowley isn’t always this generous,” she says.

Sam looks at Meg, then to Cas, then to Crowley, then back to Cas. His eyes set on Crowley’s lingering finger on Cas’ antler.

“You’re going to harvest them and use them for magic, aren’t you?” Sam realizes.

Crowley’s face darkens.

“Leave, _pup_ ,” Crowley spits, standing straight up.

In one quick motion, Sam reaches out and snatches Meg up in his grasp. She screams and wildly kicks and bites at Sam’s hand. He winces slightly, but doesn’t let go.

“Now,” Sam growls, “I’m only going to say this once. Let the faun go.”

Crowley chuckles.

“You going to crush her in one squeeze? You’re way off your rocker, Moose.”

Sam tightens his grip to prove he’s not bluffing, but Crowley merely sits down on the pine throne and looks Sam dead in the eye.

“Kill her, then.”

Meg’s face twists into a state of shock and anger. Sam almost releases her in surprise.

“What, like she’s any better than the _over ten thousand_ more fairies I have at my command? That whore can easily be replaced,” Crowley crosses his legs and leans back, waiting to see what Sam will do. He exchanges a look with Meg.

“He’s not kidding,” she says.

Sam nods then slowly opens his palm. Meg flies over to another fairy on the ground and leans against them.

“Tie him up too,” says Crowley, “let’s have a real party.”

\--

“Castiel? Castiel, wake up.”

The faun slowly opens his eyes. A bright light in front of him encourages his eyelids to close again.

“Castiel, you awake?”

Cas turns to his left where the familiar voice is originating from. He opens his eyes completely at the sight of Sam tied to a tree. Cas attempts to move, but the ropes around his wrists and ankles are tight. Cas’ bright blue eyes flicker around the clove at the fairies flying around and dancing once again.

“Sam, what’s going on?”

“Dark fairies kidnapped you in order to gain the magic from your antlers.”

Cas wriggles about, then returns his attention back to Sam. He spews out a bunch of questions in what seems like one breath. “How long have I been out?" and "What are you doing here?” are the only two Sam is able to catch.

“You've been out for about an hour. I came across you just as they were taking you. I followed them back here.”

Cas goes pale.

“You mean we’re in the Dark Fairy Clove?”

Sam nods and glares over at the king on his throne. Crowley is watching them, an amused smirk on his face.

“Oh please, keep chatting,” Crowley’s smirk broadens into a grin. “Just how did the son of the alpha Wolf befriend a faun of the forest I wonder?”

“We're more of acquaintances actually,” says Cas. Sam sinks a bit closer to his tree, his ears drooping slightly.

“Well, that’s more than what I originally thought. See, I thought Wolf-Moose was simply ticked about us grabbing his meal. But the way he tried to bargain for your life, almost as if it were more.” Crowley gets to his feet and saunters up to Cas. “I can see why, too. You are quite attractive for a faun.”

“Let him go, Crowley,” Sam butts in, “he’s one of the weakest fauns out there. Good for eating, not salvaging magic from.”

“Hold your tongue, you pup, or I’ll cut it out,” Crowley kicks at Sam’s feet. He winces slightly before Crowley walks behind them to one of the back fires.

“Why are you here?” Cas asks as soon as Crowley is out of earshot.

“I hate fairies.” Sam starts wriggling against the tree. He turns his head to Cas and whispers, “I think I can cut through the rope with my claws.”

“Yes? And then what? You’ll be in the same position you were before they caught you.”

“Boys, boys, boys, we’re not planning on trying to escape now are we?” Sam and Cas look up to find Meg hovering before them.

“You’re still loyal to that bastard? After he was willing to let you die?” says Sam.

“Hey, I have my own code in order to survive. That code is giving loyalty to a cause. Honestly, I hate his guts. He stole a crown that belonged to a much bigger and grander ruler. Now do you want to escape from here or not?”

Sam and Cas fall silent for a moment. Cas breaks the silence.

“Why should we trust you?”

“You don’t have to. I don’t care, but I’m done serving that smarmy worm.” Meg rolls her eyes, “Have you ever seen a de-antlering by dark fairies?”

Both shakes their heads.

“I imagine it’s not a pleasant experience,” Cas comments. Meg flies up and sits on his left antler.

“No, pumpkin, it isn’t," she says, "When a dark fairy de-antlers a creature of magical power, there’s an amount of sadistic pleasure that goes into it. They do it slowly and in a way that makes sure there is lots of blood and screaming. If a human were to de-antler you, it would be quick, or there would be a chance you would survive. If you don’t let me help you, I promise you it will be an agonizing death. Your centaur friends have kept it illegal for hundreds of years, so I would bet that the fairies here are eager to spill as much of your blood as they can.”

“What’s changed?” Sam asks. Meg ignores him and flies down to look Cas in the eye.

“So you boys want out of here or what?”

Sam and Cas exchange a look. Cas doesn’t believe or trust her, but Sam is out of ideas.

“Alright, what do we do?” asks Sam. A smile spreads across Meg’s face.

\--

Crowley once again sits down upon the pine throne. He raises a hand and the drums give one last pound before silence falls upon the dark fairies. The false king scans his subjects with greedy eyes. He glances over at the faun and Wolf and smirks.

“Bring me the faun’s antlers,” commands Crowley. The clove erupts in applause.

Seven dark fairies nod respectively then slowly fly over to where the boys are tied up.

One jumps to the top of Castiel’s head, while two grab hold of each of his antlers and pull his head down. Two fairies firmly hold Castiel’s shoulders still and against the tree, putting a strain on his neck. The two remaining fairies hover over the spot where each antler meets Cas’ head. The hovering fairies raise their right hand, their fingertips glowing a dark red.

Cas’ eyes flicker to Sam who give him a brief nod in return.

“Make it messy,” says Crowley with a smirk.

With a snap of the ropes, Sam breaks free from his bonds and swipes at the fairies hovering over Cas’ head. Both fairies are knocked in opposite directions, one into a tree and the other into another fairy. Sam snatches and throws the remaining fairies from Cas’ body in various directions.

He jumps behind the tree where Cas’ hands are tied. Just as well over two dozen fairies start swarming at the two, Meg and two other dark fairies –one with long dark brown hair and the other is the red haired fairy who helped Meg kidnap Cas- fly in between them and lift their arms up. The charging fairies don’t get an inch to them before smashing against an invisible barrier domed around the three female fairies and the boys behind them.

“Sammy better hurry it up there,” says Meg.

“I had more time with my own! Just hold them off!” Sam continues clawing through the rope. He dips his head down to use his teeth.

The redheaded fairy laughs, “Just look at the king now.”

“Just concentrate on this barrier, Abaddon!” says Meg.

But now Crowley is moving out of his throne and approaching them. The smirk is gone and in its place is a red face and a furious scowl.

“Sam, please work faster,” says Cas. Sam moves his head back.

“Okay, try pulling at it!”

Cas pulls his wrists apart, the last threads of the rope snap.

“I’m free!” Cas exclaims as he gets to his feet.

“Good, now get out of here!” Meg shouts.

“Hey faun!” Cas looks up at the dark haired fairy who tosses something at him. He catches it and looks down at it. It’s his pipes.

“Figure you’ll need those,” she says then gives Sam a wink.

“Let’s go,” Sam tugs at Cas’ arm as the faun puts the pipes around his neck. Cas gives them a quick nod of thanks before following Sam into the woods.

“No problem, goat boy,” Meg mutters as her strength gives out and the barrier falls.


	5. Chapter 5

Cas has no idea how long they’re running for. Sam is a much faster runner than he but doesn’t go too fast so that they’ll lose each other. At one point Cas trips over a rock and Sam quickly circles back. He pulls Cas onto his shoulders. Cas holds on as Sam runs on, away from the Dark Fairy Clove.

After a while, Sam finally starts slowing down. He stops in front of a wide-spread tree. Cas looks up at the tree and smiles out of the corner of his mouth. Sam leans against it, chest heaving.

“Think we lost them?” Sam asks between breathes.

“Likely,” replies Cas, getting to his hooves, “we are far away from their home. You are quite the runner to get us so far away in such time.”

“Practice from having to run a lot when hunting, I guess. Though, honestly, I have no clue where we are.”

“That’s alright, Sam. I do.” Cas puts a hand flat on the tree trunk. “This is the Hollow Tree.”

“The what?”

Cas turns to Sam, his face broken out into a grin. Sam is almost shocked to see how excited he looks.

“The Hollow Tree. This tree grew to be completely hollow inside. Some say that it grew that way on purpose… Here, let me show you.” Cas takes Sam’s hand in his own and pulls him around the tree.

“Cas, wait-!”

Halfway around the tree, Cas stops and pats his hoof against the dark spot where the trunk meets the ground. His hoof disappears into the darkness and his grin widens. In the shadows is a decent sized hole where if one wasn’t looking for it exactly, they would never find it.

“Come on,” he tugs Sam’s hand and sits down beside the hole. Cas lets go of Sam’s hand and slides down into the darkness.

“Cas?”

“Sam, come down,” Cas’ voice echoes slightly.

Sam glances around quickly, then sits down on the edge of the hole and slides down himself.

It’s a short ride as five seconds later Sam sits up in the dark.

“Uh, Cas?”

“Over here,” Cas replies before bringing his pipes to his lips and playing a tune that lasts a few seconds. Almost as if the tune struck a spark, a small light breaks through the darkness on the wick of a candle on a table. Cas smiles at the light then turns to Sam.

The Wolf can’t help but muse about how the candlelight brightens Cas’ beautiful eyes in the dark.

“What do you think?” asks Cas.

Sam tears his gaze away from the faun and looks about the place. If Sam didn’t know better, he’d say they were in a human’s cabin or a large rabbit’s burrow. The room was spacious, a circular width wider than the tree above them with the slightly raised small table up against a wall. Beneath him is a solid dirt floor, above a high ceiling that curved into a cornucopia-like shape where roots and vines hang down from. Against the opposite wall of the table is a nest made up of giant leaves, grass, and flowers.

Sam whips his head back to Cas.

“Have you been living down here?” he asks.

“Not since your pack attacked us,” Cas replies bluntly.

“Oh.” Sam looks up at the ceiling again. “It really is hollow. Literally.” He stands up and walks around.

“The legend goes that this tree grew hollow on purpose so that it could shield any creature of the forest that needed a quick, safe shelter, whether from a rainstorm, a place to hibernate, or from predators. Only creatures that have need of it are able to find it.”

“I wonder why I've never heard of it."

"It's more of a folk story to those who actually live in the trees of the forest," Cas continues, “some say it moves around the forest, but that’s not true. It stays put. Goes to show that one shouldn’t always believe in everything about a story. However, it has provided comfort for me when I need to get somewhere safe and away…”

“Like the pond?”

“Only much more private.”

Sam pauses then looks over at Cas.

“Why are you sharing this with me?” he asks.

Cas looks down at his hands, which are fumbling with his pipes. He relaxes then looks Sam in the eye.

“Because you spared my life at the pond and came after me when Crowley and his fairies kidnapped me. You saved my life. And I hope I lied.”

“Lied?”

“To Crowley. About us being merely acquaintances. I would like us to be friends.” Cas moves to walk to the hole but Sam gently grabs his arm.

“Me too. I’d like us to be friends too,” Sam smiles, “we keep saving each other’s lives. I don’t think we could be enemies again.”

“Well, we probably could, but I would prefer not trying to.”

Sam removes his hand from Cas’ arm and offers it to shake. Cas takes it.

\--

The sweet sound of a pan flute plays through the air and kisses the soft grass. Up from the soil sprouts a green stem where a bud quickly forms at the top.

The plant dances with the music and blooms into a beautiful pink tulip. The flower petals sway with the music. Castiel’s heart warms as he continues to play.

“A tulip? Tulips don’t grow here.” The familiar accent cuts through Cas’ playing and he stops. The flower stills with the sudden disappearance of the music.

“I like tulips, Balthazar. Don’t spoil it,” he replies.

“Oh no, please continue on, Cassie. Don’t let me interrupt your gardening.”

Cas looks up at Balthazar.

“I there something you wanted?”

“No, nothing at all. Only, you missed Michael’s message he gave us this morning. Well, more like you were there but as soon as he mentioned the words ‘dark fairies’ you ran off.” Balthazar folds his arms across his chest. “Are you going to tell me what that was all about?”

Cas locks his eyes back onto the tulip.

“What did Michael say about them?”

“Only that apparently there was an uprising among them the other night against their king. They’re still far from the Orchard so they shouldn’t be bothering us, but the centaurs thought we should know.”

Cas narrows his eyes on the tulip as Balthazar continues to babble on.

“Just another reason for them to keep us locked in here.”

“We can leave if we please, Balthazar.”

“I don’t mean literally, but it’s just another danger for us out there. What’s the matter, Cas?”

Cas is quiet for a moment before asking, “Is that all?”

“You look exhausted, Cas. Did you get any sleep last night?”

“Not much,” says Cas before putting the pipes to his lips again. Balthazar rolls his eyes.

“Alright, you go on and keep to yourself. I’m just going to go do... something else.”

He turns to leave just as Cas quickly lowers his pipes.

“Balthazar.”

“What?”

“Any news about the Wolves?”

“None yet. Though Gabriel suspects that the fairies might become a pest problem for them, which for us is a good thing. After all, the Wolf caves are closer to the Clove than we are. Well, I’ll see you later then.”

“See you later,” Cas mumbles in reply as Balthazar walks off.

Cas smiles down at the tulip. Yes, he decided. He was going back to the Hollow Tree tonight. This time he knew Sam would be there as well.

\--

“Here.”

Sam offers Cas a small handful of blueberries from a pouch he had brought. Cas accepts them and pops one in his mouth.

It’s been four days since Castiel and Sam made the Hollow Tree a place of meeting. Over that time they had met there nearly twice a day; once in the afternoon and once at night. Whenever they could catch a chance, they snuck away and slid into the room.

Generally, they didn’t do much. They would talk mostly. Sometimes it was about their cultures. Cas would tell Sam an old legend about fauns, or Sam would recall when he and his brother were pups and Dean stole a human child’s storybook just so that he could read Sammy something to help him sleep. Sam spoke of Dean frequently and Cas would tell him how he thought it was nice that Sam had someone like that growing up. When Sam asked him about his family, Cas told him how he never really knew his parents, that all fauns were family and to them it did not matter who birthed you.

Cas would hurry to change the subject to favorite spots in the forest and Sam would go along with it.

“I wasn’t aware Wolves ate anything other than meat.”

Sam sits on the opposite side of the small table, the wall to his back, and places the pouch of blueberries between them.

“If we did that we would have starved generations ago. Meat is the primary food supply, but it’s not always around. There’s a large grove of blueberries not far from our caves so they’re good for when the pickings are low. Thought you’d might like some.”

Cas flinches at the word ‘pickings.’ Sam notices.

“Sorry.”

“No, no. I suppose it’s fair considering that we consider the Wolves to be mindless dogs,” Cas says before eating another blueberry. He smiles. “Thank you. They’re delicious.”

Sam regards the way Cas smiles. It’s a smile that requires his whole face to smile with him. As if when his teeth show, the rest of his face makes room to show them off, all the while his eyes seem to sparkle.

He changes the subject.

“News of the dark fairies reached the pack.”

“Same with my people. The centaurs don’t think it will affect our position.”

“Don’t see how. Not even we know where you are,” Sam finishes the last blueberry. He wishes he picked more. Cas looks at him, eyebrows raised.

“You don’t?”

“Well, my dad suspects the Apple Orchard, but he can’t be sure unless he stuck his head in there, which is impossible because only those who know where the Orchard is can find it.”

Cas leans back against the wall.

“We are,” he says bluntly.

“Are what?”

“In the Apple Orchard.”

Sam blinks a few times before answering. “Why are you telling me?”

Cas looks him in the eye.

“We’re friends. I trust you. Besides, as you said, the pack won’t be able to find us anyway.” Cas picks up his pipes and brings them to his lips. He plays as Sam takes the information in.

Castiel _trusts_ him. Gods, if his father ever knew about this… No, his father will _never_ know about this. For once, Sam is going to keep something for himself that his father won’t dirty. Even Dean won’t know, especially Dean; if he knew, he’d tell. No, his friendship with Cas is going to stay his secret. Damn his father’s grand plans for the future of the pack.

A smile grows across Sam’s face and he gets to his feet.

“Come on,” he says tugging on Cas’ wrist.

“Where are we going?”

“The pond. It’s too tiny in here.”

Before Cas could reply with “For what?” off to the far left of the small table, a hole opens in the ground, big enough for both to fit through. Sam releases Cas’ wrist and walks over to look down into the hole. He grins.

“Never mind, c’mere,” he says, a reflective blue glowing from the hole onto his face. Without a reply, he jumps down, disappearing entirely. A loud splash echoes from the hole.

“Sam-!” Cas runs to the side of the opening. A breathes a sigh a relief when he sees Sam grinning back up at him, hair sticking to his face and his ears perking up.

“Come on, Cas! It’s an underground spring, deep enough for swimming.”

“Is that why you wanted to go to the pond? You want to swim? It’s the middle of the night.”

“Well, I’m not going to the pond now. Look what the tree gave us!” Sam swims out of view. Cas opens his mouth to call after him, but instead says,

“How will we get out?”

“There’s an opening in the corner,” Sam’s voice echoes in reply.

Cas dangles his legs first into the hole, then pushes himself off the edge. The water below breaks his fall.

He immediately emerges to the surface to find Sam sitting on a shore of shining gray rocks against one side of the cavern. Behind the Wolf is, as he said, the exit in the corner. It’s made up of the shining rocks that run into grass that pokes into the underground pool. The water itself is cool, but refreshing.

The cavern itself takes Cas’ breath away. The shining rocks make up the walls and ceiling, with a few roots of the tree hiding between the cracks. The water is a clear blue that fills the bottom third of the cavern and reflects off the rocks, which give off a pale blue light that illuminates the cavern.

Cas swims over to Sam and pulls himself out of the water to sit beside him.

“It’s beautiful,” he says.

“Yeah,” Sam agrees and reaches up to lift the pan pipes around Cas’ neck to get a better look at them. He never actually took the time to properly examine them. They consist of four pipes, the largest on Cas’ left side and from there gradually grow smaller. Along the shafts dance carved designs. Sam squinted slightly.

“They’re honeybees, if you couldn’t tell,” Sam glances up at Cas who continues, “not wasps. No bees are much kinder creatures that only harm when endangered. Every faun’s pipes are different, the engravings pertaining to their own personality when they are born.”

“That’s nice, to have something designed for you alone. What about the music you play with them? Are they original too?”

“No, those are passed down through families. To be honest, there haven’t been any fresh pieces in about a hundred years.”

“Ever thought about composing one?”

“No.”

“What about dances?”

“Those are quite old as well, even older.” Cas shrugs as Sam lets the pipes fall back against the faun’s chest. “What about Wolves?”

“What do you mean?”

“Do Wolves play music and dance?”

Sam chuckles, “Not in the way you’d think.”

“I don’t know what to think about Wolves and their recreational hobbies.”

Sam pauses, nibbling on his lower lip. Cas’ eyes are drawn to the small motion. He swallows.

“Well,” says Sam, “we do have a sort of um… water dance.”

“A water dance?”

“It’s sort of not really performed for the hell of it, though.”

“I imagine it would be brilliant. It’s widely known that Wolves are excellent swimmers, but for there to be a dance...”

“Well, it is a bit more of a fancy swim than a dance.”

Cas looks at Sam expectantly, his hoofs dipping in and out of the water, his eyes shining. Sam suspects it’s just the rocks reflecting against those beautiful blue eyes… _Beautiful?_

Sam sighs and nods, “Alright then.”

The Wolf stands up, his back facing the water. He closes his eyes. He waits a beat then allows himself to fall backward, his body arching upward, causing his head to breach the water surface first. Underwater, Sam pushes himself away from the rocks with his feet into the more open area of the pool. He spins his body three times counterclockwise then flips so that he is upside-down, his hands keep him balanced and straight.

Sam’s body curls in and with a hard shove, he pushes himself upward. His whole body breaches the surface and for a moment he is in mid-air, one arm stretched out towards Cas. In that brief moment Cas spots a glint in Sam’s eye, not one of hate or hunger, but of something else. A sense of peace and caring.Cas’ face flushes.

Sam falls back into the water, curled up in a ball. Cas unconsciously puts his pipes to his lips and begins playing a soft, slow tune that reminds the faun of the eye of a storm.

The Wolf spins clockwise toward him and emerges from the water again, his eyes closed and his right arm raised. He slides back down underwater only to come back up with his other arm raised. Sam falls backward under the surface. He balances himself on one foot, with the other foot pushes himself to rotate around and around. Gaining speed, a small whirlpool forms about him and with one foot he slams as hard as he can against the floor, pushing him up out of the water once again.

The pipes slip from Cas’ fingers at the sight of Sam before him, water rising around him, as if the water were lifting him up like a water god. Droplets glisten against Sam’s skin and the ends of his fur. Cas stares wide-eyed and jaw dropped.

As the other emerges in the dance, the image of the god-like Sam is brief. The top of his head brushes against the cavern ceiling before the water tower collapses. Sam closes his eyes and dives head-first into the water.

Cas sits at the edge of the rocks dumbstruck. His pipes are back to hanging around his neck and his shoulders slump. He blinks a few times and lets go of the breath he wasn’t aware he was holding. The pool stills in front of him. He leans over the edge.

“Sam?” His eyes frantically search the water. “Sam!?”

Just as Cas is about to jump in after him, Sam surfaces right below his chin causing the faun to fall onto his backside.

“Wow that was amazing!” says Sam, pride swelling up in his chest. He rests his arms on either side of Cas, the lower half of his body still in the water.

Cas sits up, his hooves dangling in the water under Sam’s arms. The Wolf’s long hair sticks flat to his head. He shakes his head a little, causing some of the fur on his ears to stick up.

“You seem surprised,” Cas remarks.

“A Wolf doesn’t do that dance often. Usually only once or twice in their lifetime.”

“Why? It was marvelous. I don’t think I could match it, myself,” Cas says. Sam blames the sudden pounding in his ears and warmth in his cheeks on the adrenaline rush.

“Most Wolves use that dance actually as a way to impress um… a mate,” Sam averts his eyes on the last part.

“Oh.”

“Yeah,” embarrassed, Sam quickly laughs and turns his focus to a random rock on his left. “I wasn’t trying to... I just wanted to show you some of my culture and that’s something although seldom done anymore… I just wanted…”

“Sam.”

“Hmm?” Sam finally looks up at Cas, who brushes a lock of wet hair out of Sam’s face.

“It was beautiful. Thank you for sharing that with me.”

“And you were playing while I was dancing,” a smile raises in the corner of Sam’s mouth.

Cas’ face turns pink again. Sam pushes himself upward and presses his lips against Cas’.

Despite still being wet, Sam’s lips are soft and warm. Cas raises a hand to Sam’s face and deepens the kiss. Sam’s hands slide up Cas’ sides and pauses.

Cas pulls back to find Sam staring at him with sad eyes as if someone had just kicked him.

“I’m sorry,” he says, “I just…”

“No, Sam. You’re right. I’m dinner to you. This isn’t right. We should just leave now and pretend none of this ever happened.”

Sam nods in agreement but neither of them moves. Cas rolls his eyes.

“Damn it.”

Cas leans down to meet Sam’s lips again.

“We are in so much trouble,” Sam comments between kisses.


	6. Chapter 6

The Dead Mountain is disguised as the side of a giant cliff far above the canopy of the trees of the Great Forest. Nothing grows on its peak and nobody ever dares to venture there, for the sides are steep and made up of razor sharp rocks. It lies near the outskirts of the Forest, residing beside the shoreline of the sea. It can be seen from the bluff over Wolves’ cave.

 “It isn’t even a mountain. The Dead Cliff just doesn’t sound as impressive.”

Sam turns to find Dean standing behind him on the bluff. Dean sits himself beside his brother.

“Probably from a greater distance it would look somewhat like a mountain,” says Sam. Dean shrugs.

“Dad’s been mumbling to Bobby about it lately.”

“What?” Sam’s brow furrows. “Has he said anything to you?”

“You know dad, he doesn’t say anything to anybody unless he needs them to know; especially to us.”

“So what has he been mumbling?”

“I don’t know, he just mentioned it several times.”

“Nobody just casually mentions Dead Mountain.”

“What do you want me to say, Sam? I know just as much as you do.”

Sam tears his gaze away and starts picking at the grass.

 _Not quite as much_ , he thinks, looking up at the clear blue sky. A silence falls between them for a while.

It’s not until Dean starts fidgeting in his spot that breaks them out of the quiet.

“You okay?”

“Yeah, I just… no, it’s nothing.” Dean fakes a smile then gets to his feet. “C’mon, let’s go get a rabbit. I’m starving.” He brushes his tail against Sam’s face to annoy him. Sam smacks it away.

“ _Dean_.”

“What?” Dean grips Sam’s shoulder and pulls, “c’mon, I’m hungry. Let’s go catch something.”

“Dean, what’s bothering you?”

“Nothing. Mind your business, I certainly do. I could ask you why you’ve been sneaking out every night for over a week now, but I don’t because I respect your privacy.”

Sam jumps to his feet.

“Why the doe-eyed look? You think I didn’t notice.”

“No,” Sam blinks a couple of times to gather his bearings. “You’re right. I suppose you would notice me leaving every night. Has anybody else?”

“Not as far as I know. Why? You going out to catch a little tail with Jo or something?” Dean smirks as Sam’s cheeks flush.

“N-no. I was just…”

Dean pats Sam on the back. “Hey, no worries.Whatever it is. But be a bit more discreet or else somebody else _will_ start noticing.”

Sam eyeballs him. Why is Dean so cooperative about secrets all of a sudden? He pushes the thought to the back of his mind.

“Yeah, sure,” he replies, his shoulders relaxing. “So, rabbit?”

Dean’s face lights up. "Thought you'd never ask."

\--

“Cas! Cas wake up!”

A rough kick to the side does the trick. Cas quickly sits up, his ears flickering to and fro. Other fauns quickly pass by them toward the center of the orchard.

“What is it?”

“The centaurs are calling a meeting,” says Balthazar, “come on, we’re going to be late and I don’t fancy a scolding glare from Raphael.”

Cas follows behind Balthazar as they go with the crowd.

“Do we know what this is about?” Cas asks.

“Nothing definite, but it’s likely about our situation… finally.”

At the center of the Apple Orchard stand the three centaurs. Gabriel looks over the fauns filing in, while the other two are talking to each other and occasionally leaning in to whisper in each other’s ear. Gabriel glances at them in distaste then spots Cas and Balthazar taking a spot in the middle of the crowd. He smiles at them half-heartedly.

Once all the fauns are gathered and the chatter among them quiets down. Michael takes a step forward, the other two centaurs on either side of him.

Michael is the biggest of the three, with broad shoulders and a cream colored lower body with four white socks and a white tail.

“I would like to begin by apologizing for giving little information about what has been happening over our time here,” he pauses for a beat then continues, “We have been using that time to gather as much information as possible, which I admit has not been much. What we do know is this: the Wolves are planning on attacking us soon and they’re going to use powers that the Orchard cannot protect us from. What these dark powers are we are not certain of yet, but we do know it will be more than the three of us can handle.”

Murmurs circle among the fauns. Cas swallows thickly and shifts his weight from one hoof to the other. The muttering quickly quiets as Michael continues.

“As I’m sure you are very much aware, the younger of you perhaps not, but fauns were not always pacifists. In fact, they were great warriors during the forging of the Dead Mountain. Many of your songs and poems were born out of the stories of those days. But once everything in the Great Forest seemed to be peaceful, you stole away any sign of your aggressive nature. You substituted powerful incantations for sleeping and healing charms. Well, my brothers and I have decided that it’s time you brought forth your old ways.”

An eerie silence fills the air. It was so quiet, the rushing of water could be heard in the distance. Everyone is dumbstruck. Cas’ knees feel weak and he’s sure that the faun on his left is going to faint.

Then hell breaks loose in an eruption of shouting and crying. The fauns behind Cas and Balthazar push through them and those in front of them to yell protests.

“We’re lovers not fighters!”

“We can’t do that!”

“Oh my gods, we’re all going to die!”

“You’re sending us to our doom!”

Raphael steps forward and booms, “Enough!”

The crowd falls silent again.

“You will all die if you do not learn to defend yourselves and _learn_ ,” Michael shouts. “Do not think we will abandon you, either. We will help you. We have in our possession, as given to us by your forefathers, a book of spells that the faun used to know. Over the coming days we will train you to be ready when the Wolves come knocking on our door. And they will come knocking soon. Now eat up and sleep well tonight for tomorrow morning we’ll begin training you.”

Cas considers not going to the Hollow Tree that night. The centaurs might be watching them closely to make sure they’re well-rested for the next day. He wonders what Sam might think if he doesn’t come without telling him beforehand. Cas hates the thought of Sam waiting there alone all night. No, he'll go anyway.

\--

Castiel waits under the Hollow Tree longer than he would have liked. Usually Sam is the one who gets there first. Cas takes a dip in the underground pool and is already dry by the time Sam arrives.

“You’re here early,” he comments.

“Yeah, the centaurs want us to get a full night’s sleep, which means I could get out early.”

“How long have you been here?”

Cas shrugs. “Long enough. Come here.” He pulls Sam into a kiss, flicking his tongue against Sam’s bottom lip. Sam presses flush up against him in return, one hand grazing across Cas’ back.

When they break off, Cas hurries to say, “I hear the pack is planning something.”

“I don’t want to talk about that,” Sam breathes into Cas’ mouth before planting another kiss on him. Cas pushes back.

“The centaurs are training us.”

That gets Sam to stop.

“They’re going to teach us to fight. Like when our race used to back in the time of the Haven War.”

“The centaurs are really worried about the pack,” says Sam.

“You’re the alpha’s son, I’m surprised how surprised you are. Are the Wolves _not_ planning to attack us?”

Sam clenches his jaw.

“My father doesn’t tell me much. I know he was making big plans, but for the centaurs to react like this… they probably know what he’s up to.”

“Or there’s an informant on both sides.”

The two stare at each other for a moment.

“Cas, I swear I haven’t told my father anything. No one even knows about us. I mean, Dean has noticed me sneaking out at night, but he’s not questioning my reasons. I think he thinks it’s simply to get away from dad.”

“I believe you, Sam. And I give you my word that I haven’t breathed a word about us to anyone either. Which I guess begs the question, if you and I are not sneaking information to our people, then who is?”

\--

Spells came to Castiel quite easily. The method of learning new spells was surprisingly simple. Understanding them and knowing how to control them was another matter.

The fauns were separated into three groups, each centaur teaching something different. Gabriel complained to Cas about being stuck with healing spells.

“Now this spell is to be used to heal you if you are poisoned-”

“Gabe, why in the hell are Wolves going to poison us of all things? Wouldn’t that ruin their meal?” Balthazar sniggered.

“It’s for future reference,” Gabriel rolls his eyes, “just in case. You’re going to learn as much as we can teach you, okay?”

“The only poison I’ll ever have in my body is one that I put there myself when I’m able to start stealing grog from the humans again,” Balthazar whispers to Cas, who is only paying attention to the ancient text for healing poisoned wounds.

Cas, along with the twenty or so fauns in his group, lift their pipes to their lips and repeat the incantation into them. The shafts of the pipes glow gold along their designs for a moment before fading back to normal.

The light fairy hovering in front of Cas and Balthazar lifts up a thorn and cuts his leg.

“Blondie first,” says the fairy, wincing at the dull throb in his leg.

“Alright,” says Balthazar before putting his single recorder pipe to his lips and starts playing. The recorder glows gold for a moment before dulling out suddenly. The fairy rolls his eyes and turns to Cas.

“Your turn,” groans the fairy, the poison in the thorn beginning to take its toll on him.

Cas brings his pipes to his lips and begins the tune. The pipes glow gold as Balthazar’s had. The light radiates off them and reaches out to touch the fairy’s leg. The gash closes up and the light fairy relaxes.

“Well done,” says the fairy.

\--

“Healing seems to be your strong suit,” says Balthazar after Michael announces that they are finished for the day.

“It was only our first lesson, Balthazar, and we haven’t even gotten to physical combat yet,” Cas replies plopping himself down next to his friend under one of the trees.

Balthazar looks exhausted and it’s not long before he passes out.

Cas leans back against the tree, his head tilted up to look at the night sky. He and Sam had agreed not to meet tonight. Cas regrets it.

He sighs, wishing he could be wrapped up in Sam’s arms after the long day of training. It’s a nice thought, having someone there. No not just someone, but Sam. A smile spreads across Cas’ face. He lets his eyes droop and before he realizes it, he’s asleep.

\--

Sam had spent the day plucking up the courage to find a way to ask John to let him in on the plans.

Dean had been gone all day but Sam didn’t worry. Dean was a grown Wolf who could handle himself. It was just that Sam had no one to consult to that made Dean’s absence an inconvenience. He knew how to talk to John without starting a fight.

It wasn’t long after sunset that Sam was ready to approach his father.

“Um, Dad?”

“Hey Sam, where’s your brother?”

“Uh, I dunno.”

John curses under his breath then shakes his head.

“Guess I’ll have to do this without him. You fill him in later…”

“Actually, dad I was wondering-”

“It can wait,” interrupts John, “I have to address the pack. It’s time for everyone to be on the same page.”

The pack gathers at the foot of the cave while John stands at the mouth, Bobby and Ellen on either side of him.

“Hey, what’d I miss?”

Sam jumps at the sound of his brother’s voice sneaking up from behind him. He turns to him.

“Where’ve you been?”

“Surfing,” Dean replies with a cheeky grin. Sam rolls his eyes.

“You’re just in time. He’s about to start.”

Dean glances around. “This is a little different. Whatever happened to our circles?”

Jo shushes him as John clears his throat.

“We’ve received word that the centaurs are training the fauns into an army…”

Sam’s stomach tightens.

“…They know that we plan to attack them hard and fast and they’re preparing the goats to be ready for us.” John scans the pack below him as he continues, “The centaurs know that we plan to take the forest as our own and they ain’t going down without a fight. We expected this would happen, which is why Bobby, Ellen, and I have been looking into something big that could help us.”

John glances at Ellen and Bobby who both avert eye contact as soon as he does. Sam’s brow furrows and before he realizes it, the words spill out of his mouth.

“Who’s your source?”

All eyes lock onto Sam, who swallows thickly but stands tall.

“Who told you that they’re training the fauns?”

 “It doesn’t matter.” John looks at him hard.

“I think it does. Whether or not that information is true, I want to know where you got it. You said the other day how you don’t even know where they are and now you know their battle strategies? Who’s your source?”

John stares at him for a moment then turns around and mumbles something. When he turns to face the pack again, something hovers just over his left shoulder. Of course.

Meg smiles down at Sam, her black wings fluttering, keeping her in the air. Not far behind her hovers the dark-haired fairy, Ruby.

Sam’s hands clench into fists, but Dean protests before he can get the chance to.

“Dark fairies!?” Dean pushes passed Sam. “Are you freaking kidding me?”

“Be quiet Dean,” says John.

“Dad, they’re fucking little monsters only out for their own gain. You can’t possibly-”

“I said be _quiet,_ Dean,” John snarls. Dean shuts his mouth and takes a step back. There’s a murmur at the back of the pack.

Ruby winks at Sam. It takes all of Sam’s strength not to bound up there and crush the both of them between his claws.

Dean is all but shaking in fury. Sam reaches forward and puts a hand on his shoulder and pulls his brother next to him.

“I don’t think your son likes me very much,” Meg comments with a smirk.

“I don’t like you very much either,” John mutters before continuing to address the pack. “As I was saying, the fauns may not look like much the way we know them. But once the centaurs teach them the spells and skills their ancestors knew, then not even all of us at our strongest will be able to defeat them, which is why the dark fairies and I have been working together. They don’t like the centaurs any more than we do so I made a deal with them. They help us, they get a secured amount of land for when the forest is ours. I’m not asking you to trust them, but we will need to help each other for the same end.

“Bobby, Ellen, and I kept this from you because we needed to strategize and see what the dark fairies have to offer. What they informed us of is dangerous, but it might be the only chance we have to take this forest as our own.

“Once it is ours, we’ll never starve again. Our pups will grow up safely.  We won’t have to be confined to a single damn cave. What our plan is is for the good of the pack now and the future. I just want you to know that before I tell you exactly what it is.”

The crowd holds their breath as John looks across their faces, his brow knitted as if what he’s about to say is going to cause him physical pain.

“Damn it, John. Just tell them,” Bobby growls.

John raises his hand and points straight ahead. The pack turns to look. He’s pointing at the infamous cliff.

“We’re going to use him to destroy the centaurs’ control of the forest,” explains John, “we’re going to free Lucifer from the Dead Mountain.”


	7. Chapter 7

Michael tells Cas that he’s a gifted fast learner. Castiel can’t remember the last time the head centaur praised him, much less spoke to him directly. He can’t help but feel pride tug at his chest.

Balthazar isn’t jealous this time because he too does well with attack spells. He celebrates by picking apples that evening. He tosses one to Cas. The apples are just reaching ripeness; although they’ll be perfect in the autumn.

Cas bites into his apple and happily chews. He’s excited to see Sam tonight. Although the training of the day kept his mind off him, it would only be a few hours before Cas would be sneaking off to the tree. One day apart was too long.

“You’re not going to sneak out tonight, are you?” Balthazar asks.

Cas whips his head in his friend’s direction and his cheeks turn pink.

“What, you thought I never noticed?” Balthazar quirks an eyebrow, “So what do you do out there in your own private lonesome? Is it happy time with Cassie?”

The tips of Cas’ ears turn red.

“Keep your filthy mind to yourself,” he grumbles. Balthazar chuckles.

“Oh I know. You’ve met someone, haven’t you? Go on, do tell.”

Cas says nothing but keeps his gaze fixed on the half-bitten apple in his hands.

“You _have,_ haven’t you? Come on, Cassie!” Balthazar pokes Cas hard in the shoulder.

“Balthazar, leave me alone. I don’t want to talk about it.”

“You can’t confirm something like this then leave me hanging. When was the last time you had a relationship?”

Cas closes his eyes and feigns sleep, but Balthazar keeps prodding.

“C’mon! Tell me. We’re in the middle of a war and love is in bloom,” Balthazar pauses then sneers, “If you don’t share the love then I’ll tell Raphael about your little trips beyond the Orchard. And you know how he would just love to hear about-”

Balthazar doesn’t get to finish his sentence due to Castiel’s fist in his face knocking him to the ground.

“What the hell, Castiel!?”

Cas climbs on top of Balthazar and shakes his shoulders.

“Don’t you _dare_ breathe a word of this to anyone,” he snarls, “It would ruin _everything_.”

Balthazar stares up at Cas, wide-eyed with realization.

“It’s not a faun, is it?” it’s more of a statement, than a question. “Gods, it’s a human, isn’t it?”

“No, Balthazar, it’s not-” but Balthazar figures it out the moment Cas’ mouth formed the word ‘no.’

“It’s a Wolf,” he mutters. Cas hesitates to say anything. Balthazar pushes him off and gets to his feet.

“You’re screwing a _Wolf_?” Balthazar’s jaw drops as he backs away a few steps.

“Balthazar please…” Cas looks up at him with watering eyes.

Balthazar stares at him long and hard at for a minute. His shoulders slump and he squeezes his eyes shut, pinching the bridge of his nose.

“Gods, I need a fucking drink.”

Cas blinks in confusion.

Balthazar sits back down next to him.

“Cassie, you always were a little different,” he shrugs, “guess I never thought about just _how_ different. Gods, he better be attractive… and I don’t recommend telling the centaurs about it.”

Cas smiles out of the corner of his mouth and relaxes. “No, I suppose that would be a horrible idea.”

“…So who puts it in?”

\--

Sam’s impatiently taps his paw against the floor of the Hollow Tree.

 _Gods, when is Cas going to get here?_ He thinks over and over. He considers that perhaps Cas passed out because the exhausting day of training. But Cas is never late, no matter what. Gods, if only he’d get there sooner. Sam has so much to tell him…

_“You look worse than your brother,” Ruby comments when Sam pulls her aside, “at least he’s not bottling up what he really thinks about this. You didn’t even say a word at the meeting.”_

_Sam spares a glance over at Dean who is arguing pretty loudly with John near the corner of the entrance to the cave. He returns his attention back to Ruby._

_“How long have you been feeding him information?”_

_“Since you and your goat helped us take Crowley off the throne.”_

_“How have the other dark fairies taken it?”_

_“They either fell in line for us or we killed them.”_

_“And Crowley?”_

_“Don’t worry about him, what you should be worrying about is your father and what he’ll do to protect this pack.”_

_Sam’s face twitches._

_“What do you mean?”_

_Ruby smiles._

_“Why does he trust you?”_

_“He doesn’t,” Ruby moves to perch on his shoulder, but Sam inches away. “And he shouldn’t. But then again, your father doesn’t trust anybody. That’s his problem.” Ruby pauses then adds, “We’re not going to tell him, you know. About our last meeting and how you were involved, and your relationship with the faun.”_

_“Why not?”_

_“It’s none of our business. Plus it would screw everything up.”_

_“What do you want from me, Ruby?”_

_“Your dad is going to need your help to control him,” says Ruby, “Not Dean, not any other dog from your pack, but you and only you.”_

Below the tree Sam can hear the sound of steps approaching the entrance. A sense of relief washes over him when Cas slides down into the hollow.

Cas’ face lights up before he runs over to Sam and jumps into his arms. He plants kisses all over the Wolf’s face. Sam grins and squeezes him tight.

“Cas! Hey Cas,” Sam moves to put the faun down, put Cas’ arms tighten around his neck. “I have to tell you-”

“Yes, and I have much to tell you!”

Sam puts Cas back on his hooves and reaches to unhook the arms around his neck.

“No listen, Cas.”

Cas halts his kiss assault.

“My dad explained what he’s planning to do and how he’s going to attack,” says Sam.

The smile on Cas’ face fades. He’s unsure if he wants to hear it, but he allows Sam to continue.

“They know you’re in the Apple Orchard and they have a way of getting in. The fairies that helped us escape the other night, they’re the ones tipping my dad off. They say they’re helping in exchange for property when the Wolves take control.”

“But you don’t believe that.”

Sam shakes his head, “I would, except their big plan they’ve convinced my dad into moving forward with. They plan to break Lucifer out of the Dead Mountain.”

Castiel pales as he stares wide-eyed.

“He cannot possibly be that foolish,” he says.

“The fairies gave him a powerful spell that supposedly will allow my dad to control him.”

“Lucifer is one of the oldest creatures in the Great Forest. He’s as old as the centaurs! He desolated half the forest. He killed thousands! The end of the Haven War locked him in that rock for all eternity. Why in the hell would anyone want him out of there!? Even Crowley hated him, as the story goes.”

“The fairies said that the spell they had was something Crowley kept hidden.”

“Although I could see how that makes sense, you cannot believe what those creatures say.”

“I know that, Cas. I don’t like this entire situation.”

“Have the fairies given instruction on how they will raise Lucifer?” Cas asks.

“Not to the pack yet.”

Cas opens his mouth then quickly closes it again. He takes a deep breath and says, “Sam, a few decades back a dark fairy named Azazel tried to raise Lucifer. He sacrificed a Wolf, said an incantation and poured her blood over the rocks. Nothing happened but his last words were ‘Wrong one.’ Did you ever hear of this? I suppose you were only a pup then.”

Sam tenses and his jaw clenches. Cas nods.

“So you do know of this-”

“The Wolf he used to sacrifice was my mother,” says Sam. He scoffs, “Dad never said a thing about his last words, though.”

“From what I understand the centaurs were too late to save her, but that your father slaughtered Azazel. Ever since has hated the centaurs for not getting there in time to help him save her. I’m sorry, Sam.”

Sam fakes a smile, “Nothing for you to be sorry for, Cas. It was a long time ago. What I can’t understand is why my dad is going forth with the same plan that killed my mother.” He hangs his head.“Gods, he always talked about her as if she was the most perfect person in the world...”

Cas puts a hand on Sam’s arm.

“Do you know if your father will be using the exact same incantation Azazel tried to use?” he asks.

“I don’t know. But if everything goes to plan as dad wants it then the centaurs will be wiped out, more than half the forest destroyed, and your people will probably be enslaved and bred like how humans breed sheep and cattle for slaughter.” Sam looks up at Cas, “I can’t let that happen.”

“I must tell you, if we do go to war, without Lucifer you’ll all die,” says Cas, “our training is going better than the centaurs had hoped. Even I’m picking up much more than a few tricks.”

“We can’t let either scenario happen. Both of us will have to talk to our leaders and try to stop it before it starts.”

“Do you think you could convince your father to settle a treaty?”

“I honestly don’t know. I can try. Maybe if I get Dean on my side. He made an outburst when dad told the pack everything. Will the centaurs listen to you?”

“Perhaps. Gabriel and I are friends and from what I can tell I’m in good graces with Michael. Raphael doesn’t particularly like me, but if I can convince Michael the Wolves would prefer to keep the peace, this could work.”

“Great, then first thing tomorrow. It’s late.”

“You’re not leaving, are you?” Cas asks. Sam shakes his head with a small smile. Cas grabs him by the shoulders and pulls him into a kiss.

“W-what will I say to him?” Sam breathes between kisses, his fingers trailing over Cas’ antlers.

“That you have a friend on the other side.”

“You’re more than just a friend and I…” Sam trails off.

“You what?”

“I love you, Cas. I don’t want our families to go to war. I don’t want to be on the opposite side of a battlefield from you.”

Cas’ heart pounds in his chest and his eyes well up. He gently pulls Sam over to the bed of leaves and flowers and has him sit beside him.

Sam leans forward and kisses him hard, pushing his tongue between Cas’ lips. Cas lies down on his back. Sam leans over him and kisses his neck.


	8. Chapter 8

Castiel debates on what his favorite thing is: the moment right after, or waking up in Sam’s arms. Both are wonderful, he decides and both are things he wishes he could spend the rest of his life doing.

Castiel realizes that it’s morning and he and Sam’s limbs are still entangled. His eyes open to find Sam, still sound asleep with his back up against Cas’ chest. Sunlight streams in from the opening.

“Sam, wake up! Wake up!” Cas sits up and shakes his lover. Sam groans. “Sam, we’re still at the Hollow Tree. We fell asleep before we could get back. Wake _up_!” Cas prods Sam hard in the side, causing the wolf to awaken with a yelp.

“Wha? Cas-”

But Cas was already on his hooves, tying his pipes around his neck. He grabs hold of Sam’s hand and hauls him to his feet.

“Fauns wake up bright and early when they have a day planned ahead of them. It’s still early, but the sun’s up, which probably means fauns are too. I have to get back.” Cas moves towards the entrance.

“Okay, okay. I’ll see you later then, I guess,” says Sam. Cas turns to him and smiles.

“Yes, Sam. We’ll see each other later. Good luck with your father.”

“Yeah, same to you with the centaurs.”

Cas pulls himself up and bolts back to the Apple Orchard, leaving Sam alone and wishing he had gotten one more kiss in.

\--

Castiel slips through the pine trees with ease and sprints to the clearing at the center of the orchard. He stops behind a tree and peers over to the groups to see if he can spot where Balthazar is. His hand tightly grips onto the tree bark.

 _Damn it, he’s with Raphael today._ He walks over to the group. Raphael’s cold gaze falls on him.

“Castiel, where have you been all morning?”

“Asleep,” he replies. Well, he wasn’t completely lying.

He takes a spot beside Balthazar who gives him a knowing eyebrow arch. Raphael doesn’t seem satisfied with the answer, but accepts it anyway and returns to his train of thought regarding knowing and utilizing surroundings in battle.

“Excuse me,” Cas interrupts before the centaur can get a full sentence out. Raphael glares at him. “I need to speak with you, Gabriel, and Michael.”

“Is it important?”

“Extremely.”

“Then no.”

“Raphael, this is about the Wolves and their plans.”

“What do you know about the Wolves’ plans?”

“Enough to tell you that we can’t go to war because if their preparations succeed there might not be any actual fighting going on. We’ll all be dead before he can draw a breath to defend ourselves.”

Raphael’s eye twitches. “And where did you get this information?”

Cas takes a quick deep breath, “A Wolf told me.”

\--

“Dean, where’s dad?” is the first thing to come out Sam’s mouth when he arrives back at the beach.

The Wolves were only just getting up, some chewing on leftover bones for breakfast. Several were jumping in the water to wake themselves up. Dean had just started looking for Sam. To Dean’s surprise and relief, his brother came to him.

“You look beat. Have you been running? You’re all gross and sweaty. That can’t be healthy.” Dean winkles his snout.

“Dean.”

“He’s back in the cave. I think he’s talking with those freaking pixies.”

“I wouldn’t insult them,” Sam mutters before running over to the cave. Dean follows close behind him.

Sure enough, John is speaking with Meg and Ruby while leaning over a drawing in the sand.

“Dad, I have to talk to you.”

“Not now, Sam. We’ll talk later,” John replies, not looking up.

“No, it has to be now. The sooner the better it will be for all of us.”

John looks up at him, his face blank.

“What is it?” he asks.

Sam glances between Ruby and Meg.

“Alone please?”

“Why?”

“Because… because I think we should try to make peace with the centaurs.”

Meg chuckles, “Oh honey you have no idea-”

“Shut up,” Sam growls, “I wasn’t asking for your opinion.”

John stands up straight.

“Sam, what makes you think they would even think to forgive us for the other night? Why would they step down? They know we’re coming, so they’re preparing themselves. It’s too late now. Any chance of peace was lost long ago.”

“Was it lost when Azazel tried to raise Lucifer and the centaurs arrived too late to save mom?”

“That was a long time ago-”

“Yeah, dad and I don’t think you’ve quite gotten over it.”

“Sam,” Dean mutters, putting a hand on his brother’s shoulder. Sam shrugs it off.

John’s jaw clenches.

“What makes you even think _any_ of those goats would step down? We’ve attacked them, we’ve killed them in past winters to save our own skins. We’ve always been the predators and now that they are gaining their ancient powers back they’re just going to give it up? We need a food supply and they know they are the best we can get and they are going to defend themselves. They don’t want to reason, boy. The more they learn, the more they’re itching to go as well. None of them will stop now.”

“I know of one,” says Sam, “he agrees with me and right now he’s convincing the centaurs to stop too. We don’t need to fight. We don’t need to raise Lucifer. We can compromise with them. Maybe if we befriend the centaurs they can help us with our food problem.”

“Who is this faun you’ve been talking to?” says John.

“Dad, haven’t you been listening to a word I’m saying?”

“Who is this little friend of yours!?” John booms.

The conversation has drawn in a crowd, but John pays them no mind while Sam suddenly feels put on the spot. He swallows the nausea brewing at the back of his throat.

“He saved my life so I spared his.”

“Did you know about this?” John addresses Dean while still glaring at Sam.

“No sir,” Dean says just audible enough for the three of them to hear.

“Dad, my relationship with Cas has nothing to do with-”

“Oh, so its name is Cas. Tell me, Sam, have you ever considered Cas might be leading you on?”

“He wouldn’t do that.”

“Right, because you’re such best friends.”

“Because we love each other!” Sam shuts his mouth as soon as the words leave it.

The cave falls silent. Sam turns to Dean who looks more surprised than anything else. His eyebrows are raised high and his mouth is hanging slightly open. John’s face twists in disgust.

“I want you gone,” he mutters.

“What?”

“You heard me. I want you off my beach and don’t come back. What you’ve done is disgusting. You betrayed your pack the moment you let that goat walk free. I could have forgiven that. But when you let it screw you for information was when you betrayed me.”

Sam turns to leave. Dean just stands there while the rest of the pack makes space for Sam to get by them. He walks through it.

“Dad-”

“Keep your mouth shut, Dean,” John growls.

When Sam is cleared of the beach, he allows the tears to roll down his cheeks.

\--

“Do you honestly believe the Wolves would agree to a treaty?”

“Yes.”

Cas stands before the three centaurs, the rest of the fauns gathered a ways behind him, just close enough to hear.

“And this Wolf you’ve been in contact with, you are sure he’s reliable?” Michael asks.

“Yes. I trust him. He wants to avoid bloodshed as much as possible.”

“And he told you what their big plan is?” says Raphael. Cas hesitates, but replies honestly.

“Yes, and if that big plan should succeed then no amount of training here will do us any good.”

“Why? What is their plan?” Raphael pushes. Cas says nothing.

“Castiel, we want to keep you and your people safe. To do that, we need to know what they’re up to,” says Michael.

“I just don’t want to start a panic,” Cas explains.

“Then just tell _us_ ,” Michael whispers.

“If they see no other alternative, the Wolves plan on raising Lucifer from the Dead Mountain.”

Michael intakes a sharp breath. Raphael’s eyes widen in anger. Gabriel’s brow furrows.

“They wouldn’t dare,” Raphael snarls.

“They have a couple of dark fairies helping them,” says Cas. He takes a step forward, “Now you see why we need to stop this war before it goes any further. Perhaps we could reconcile old differences and learn to co-exist without hunting one another. I’m sure we can do this. The Wolf I’ve been speaking with is the alpha’s youngest son.”

Raphael leans in to whisper into Michael’s ear. Michael closes his eyes and nods. They turn back to Cas.

“They would need to sacrifice one of their own to raise Lucifer and knowing how strong the bond of their pack is, this is unlikely,” says Michael, “even if they were to try to raise Lucifer, they would be dipping themselves into serious dark magic. The kind that changes you. No, Castiel. No is our answer. If they are not planning on raising Lucifer and the alpha’s son is lying, then we will still need to continue to train you.

"Winter will be here soon and they will forget any sort of treaty we make just so that they can have a bite. It happens every winter, only now they’re just gathering so they won’t have to fight or chase it. If it so happens your informant is telling the truth, then we do not want any part of a treaty with them. Associating with those willing to mess with dark magic are not to be trusted. Dark magic warps the senses and they’ve likely started playing with it by now. They are not in their right minds to make any bargains.”

Cas stares up at them stunned.

“Are you really so paranoid?” he says, “The Wolves are not mindless eating machines. They’re smart and they appreciate life as much as we do. The only difference between us and them is that they have a different dietary system. They will listen if you ask for a fair negotiation. They are only raising Lucifer because they see no other choice. They’re backed into a corner because we’re obviously more powerful than them, but if we extend a friendly hand they will accept it.” Cas smiles, his eyes shining.

The centaurs gape down at him.

“Oh my gods,” Gabriel mutters.

“You’ve developed feelings for the alpha’s son, haven’t you?” says Michael.

“My feelings for him have nothing-”

“Your judgment is blind,” says Raphael, “you only see the good in them. Yes, we know there’s good in Wolves. But right now we are at war with them and peace is not an option just because of two star-crossed lovers.”

“Castiel,” Michael’s voice is still calm, “you have so much potential and this is so disappointing. I’m afraid we have to take disciplinary actions or else you could compromise us all.”

Cas takes a step back. He shakes his head.

“No.”

Michael looks to his brother. “Raphael, could you please.”

Raphael steps forward. Cas turns to run.

\--

Ripples disturb the otherwise calm water.

Sam dips his other paw in and stares blankly across the pond. Not even a bird disrupts the calm silence of the area. Sam sits on the edge of the bank, tail lifeless on the ground, hands unmoving in his lap.

“Sam.”

Sam turns around.

“Hello?” he calls. No one answers. He turns back to the pond and sighs.

“Sammy.”

Sam turns to the other direction.

“Okay, who is that!?”

Again, there is no reply.

 _Must be losing my mind_ , he thinks.

A bush rustles behind him. Sam jumps to his feet, his teeth bared. From out of the trees Dean pushes his way into the clearing. Sam relaxes somewhat.

“What do you want?”

“Sam, I just want to say I’m sorry…”

“Yeah, well why don’t you take my side for once? Gods Dean, you just stood there! Oh, of course. You’re disgusted by me too,” Sam sits back down on the bank, “you just didn’t want to steal dad’s thunder so here you are!”

“Stop it. It’s not like that, Sam. You know that.”

Sam still doesn’t turn around.

“I’m sorry I didn’t stick up for you. I guess I was so surprised I didn’t know what to say and before I knew it dad was throwing you out,” Dean sits down beside Sam, who scoots away a few inches. “So all those times you were running off it was to meet Cas, right? I mean, he seems like a nice faun.”

“You’re doing what he did.”

“What?”

“What I was telling him, it wasn’t about Cas and me. I was trying to save the pack and he turned it on me as if I was using as some sort of excuse.”

“You’re right, though. Raising Lucifer… it’s going to burn everything.”

“Unless we stop it somehow. I only hope that Cas was able to convince the centaurs. If one side is willing to negotiate, maybe we can stop it before it starts.”

Dean agrees with a hum.

“I know you don’t want to bring it up, but I want to tell you why I was so surprised that you’re with a faun,” says Dean.

“I get it.”

“No, you don’t,” a smile tugs at the corner of Dean’s mouth. He stands up. “Come up, it’s better that I show ya.”

\--

Anna is holding Balthazar back.

“There’s nothing we can do,” she whispers to him, taking every ounce not to run to Castiel’s side herself.

Raphael rolls Cas onto his back with his hoof. Cas clutches at the green grass while his other hand holds onto his bruised abdomen. He whimpers at the feeling of the centaur’s hovering hoof brushing against the skin of his back.

_Oh gods, he’s going to-_

Cas’ screams fill the air as the hoof comes down. Raphael doesn’t put all of his weight on it –he’s not trying to kill him- but lifts his hoof and kicks the faun in the side again. He wraps a hand around Cas’ right antler and pulls him up. Cas’ hooves sag on the ground, his body limp in Raphael’s grasp.

Raphael looks over at Michael, who nods once. The grip on Cas’ antler tightens while the other hand holds the top of his head firmly.

With one strong twist and pull, the antler breaks off. The edges shard. Like a shattered statue, pieces fall to the ground. Castiel’s eyes roll back in his head and everything goes white.


	9. Chapter 9

Dean pushes a large branch back and grins.

“Here,” he says.

Sam looks over his shoulder to see what they’re looking at. It’s a small clearing. Nothing special, save but a cabin spot in the middle of it. Off to one side is a chopping block with an ax sticking out of it. One of the windows is wide open and inside is a man whistling. He’s tall, well-built, and has a beard.

“This is a human’s cabin, Dean.”

“Yeah. His name is Benny.”

“You’re on a first-name basis with a human?”

Dean’s smile reaches his eyes. “He hunts deer and sells their skins in the village not far from here. Once in a while he shares the meat with me.”

“Dean, how long have you known him?”

“Since last winter. I got caught in one of his traps down near the river. He was about to stick an arrow in my eye when a bear attacked. I managed to get myself free of the trap and chase the bear off. We went back to his cabin and cleaned up both our wounds. He said that he owed me that much. But after I found myself coming back there more and more.”

“Are you two… together?” Sam asks.

“Yeah, I guess so. Just last week he suggested I come live with him permanently. I was so tempted to say yes.”

“Why didn’t you?”

Dean turns to Sam for the first time since they arrived, “You know why. Because of the pack, because of Dad… because of you. I couldn’t leave you alone with him. It also crossed my mind that if I told Dad, he’d come here and tear Benny’s throat out. Granted he’d have to get through me first and Benny can hold his own, but that thought really bothers me, you know. So I get it. Why you didn’t tell Dad about Cas. You were protecting him.”

“Thanks Dean.”

\--

Balthazar looks down at the antler in his hand. He gingerly pats Cas’ shoulder.

“At least you’ll look tougher with a broken antler. I don’t think a faun has had that look in over a hundred years. Lucky you.”

Cas says nothing but continues laying still on his side in the shade.

They can hear the other fauns training a few rows of trees down.

Balthazar looks up to the sounds of hoof steps. He frowns when Gabriel approaches.

“How is he?” the centaur asks.

“Quiet. I think all that screaming made him hoarse,” Balthazar glares up at him, “must you be so cruel as to forbid us to use our healing songs on him? It’s not like his antler will ever grow back. Once it’s off, it’s off.”

“I hate their methods,” says Gabriel, “and Castiel, I’m sorry.”

Cas finally moves his head to look up at Gabriel.

“Then why don’t you stand up to them? Coward. All I did was fall in love and try to do what was right. This is what I get.” Cas turns his head back to the side and closes his eyes.

“Cas, I’m really…”

“Best that you run along, Gabe,” says Balthazar. Gabriel nods then walks off.

\--

“We had a deal,” John reaches out to snatch Meg out of the air. She flies higher.

“And we still do. Nothing has changed.”

“Except for the fact that you did not tell me before that I’m going to have to sacrifice one of my own.”

“Slipped my mind. Oh and it has to be one of your sons, just so we’re clear.”

“What? Why!?” he snarls.

“It was the alpha Wolf bloodline. Your ancestors helped put Lucifer in that rock so only the blood of your ancestors will get him out.”

“Why not me?”

“I thought you wanted to be king of the forest,” Meg grins.

“I will _not_ sacrifice my boys.”

“Oh but you’ll kick one of them out of the house for dating a cute guy?”

“I was angry.”

“You’re angry now. In fact, I rarely see you not angry. Must be the bitterness from losing your wife all those years ago.”

“Did Azazel use the same spell we are?”

“Yes. Unfortunately he didn’t have all the right ingredients.”

“He wasn’t supposed to sacrifice Mary. It was me he was supposed to kill.”

“No, it was your puppies.”

“Why them?”

“Younger blood is better blood, John. It also isn’t one sacrifice we have to make, it’s two,” Meg counts off with her fingers, “One: the blood of the alpha, and two: the blood of the seat-warmer.”

John’s brow furrows.

“The King of the Dark Fairies. Lucifer created us and when he was sealed inside that rock Azazel took over and when he died, Crowley stepped in. Azazel knew his position wasn’t permanent, but oh Crowley basked in the role and now he’s going to pay for it.” Meg turns to Ruby, “I’m returning to Abaddon to help her bring the king. We’ll need him noon today.”

As soon as Meg is off, Ruby turns to John.

“You only have one choice, John. Raise Lucifer. And don’t worry, we can ask your younger pup for you.”

“Why Sam?”

“It always had to be Sam,” Ruby says with a smile.

“No, it doesn’t.”

John and Ruby whip around to find Gabriel standing at the mouth of the cave.

“I’m here for negotiations,” he says.

\--

After much yelling, Dean eventually convinced Sam to return to the beach with him. They head toward the cave.

“Dean, I’m not sure about this.”

“It’s okay, little brother. I’ve got your back this time and we won’t back down until he says… yes…”

The two stop at the sight of Gabriel. John and Sam exchange a look before John nods for them to come over.

“You must be Sam,” says Gabriel extending a hand that Sam shakes, “I’m Gabriel. We’ve actually met a while back. You dug your claws into my rear. It’s okay, I’m over it.” Gabriel quickly turns back to John.

“Look, it’s chaos. This whole situation. Your side is trying to raise Lucifer, my side is trying to raise an army. Both are against everything either of us has ever built. You’re not the only one who desires power. Michael and Raphael would love to have you guys out of the way if they could pull it off swiftly and efficiently. But we can stop this right here, right now.”

“Cas talked to you,” Sam says with a smile. Gabriel shuts his eyes for a moment. Sam’s smile quickly disappears. “Gabriel, where’s Cas?”

“Michael didn’t like what he was saying and he especially didn’t like that it came from you. Raphael… disciplined him.”

“He what?”

“Castiel is alive and he’s healing. He’s all right. I admit I’m ashamed that I didn’t stop it, so this is the least I can do. Now are we settling this now or what?”

John looks over at Sam and Dean.

“Oh Johnny! We’re back!” comes a familiar voice from the beach. Everyone turns to see Meg and Abaddon. Behind them is a swarm of dark fairies dragging Crowley by a rope, his hands and feet tied and his mouth gagged. A smear of blood covers the left side of his face.

“Oh good,” Meg grins, taking out a knife and eyeballing the brothers, “Sam came back.”

“You know,” says Ruby, “whether or not you still want this to happen, it’s going to happen. C’mon Sam.”

She grabs Sam by the elbow and pulls him onto the beach.

“Get off me!” Sam swipes a claw at her.

Several fairies from the swarm fly to help Ruby, each grabbing hold of a limb and lifting him into the air.

\--

“Where’s Gabriel?” Michael demands.

“A faun spotted him leaving the Orchard,” Raphael replies, “he tried to make me reconsider a treaty. I told him to leave it alone, but I’m afraid he might have gone to the shoreline anyway.”

“Then I suggest it’s time we make our move before it’s too late.”


	10. Chapter 10

“Sam!”

“Dean! Help me!”

John, Dean, and Gabriel run to the opposite end of the beach to the foot of the Dead Mountain.

The fairies drop Sam and Crowley on the most remotely flat area at the top of the cliff.

“Long way down, Sam and trying to climb would be suicide,” says Ruby.

_“Sammy. Sammy, you’re so close to me.”_

“Who is that!?” Sam shouts, looking around.

His gaze settles on Crowley. How pitiful he looks. Deprived of his crown, his clothes all torn and dirtied. He obviously hasn’t shaved since the night of his dethronement. His eyes are sad… or maybe that’s just the high altitude winds blowing in his face. Whatever it was, it makes him look less the great dark fairy Sam had heard about in scary stories late at night when he was a pup. No, this was a shell of what was left of Crowley, King of the Dark Fairies.

\--

“Gabriel, can’t you do something!?”

“Like what, fly? I’m a centaur not a griffin. But there is something… here.” Gabriel circles around the base of the cliff. “I’ll build a ramp.”

Gabriel closes his eyes and holds his hands out. He whispers a chant under his breath.

\--

_“Sam!”_

Sam gasps and looks around again for the source of the voice.

“You can hear him, can’t you?” says Ruby, brushing a strand of dark hair out her face and hooking it behind her ear. She hovers close to Sam, but just far enough out of arm’s reach.

“What?”

“ _Him_ , the big guy beneath your feet. He calls your name, doesn’t he?” Ruby’s eyes shine and her mouth curls into a smile.

“That’s Lucifer?”

“He knows you’re going to be spilling your blood for him in a few minutes. He knows you’re being sacrificed for his freedom, and in his gratitude he’s speaking to you. If I were you, I’d listen closely.”

“Why?”

Ruby shrugs, “He hasn’t spoken to anybody in thousand years. It’s polite.”

\--

“Why the hell is this taking so long?” Dean growls, pacing back and forth.

“The cliff is made up of magic, Dean. Using other magic on it probably isn’t easy, no matter how simple the spell,” says John.

Dean purses his lips and stops pacing.

“Hey dad.”

“What?”

“Since it seems to be the end of the world, I might as well tell you that I’ve been in a serious relationship with a human being for about eight months now.”

John says nothing for a minute, then replies, “Getting all sorts of surprises today.”

“You’re not mad?”

John sighs and looks up at the speck of Sam at the top of the cliff.

“I’m tired of being mad at you boys. It hasn’t gotten me anywhere but here. Everything has gotten out of hand,” he looks over at Dean. “I’m sorry about this. If we’re able to stop this, we’re going to have to have a serious family meeting.”

Dean smirks and John can’t help but smile back before turning to Gabriel.

“You finished _yet_?”

Gabriel rolls his eyes.

Sam stands at the top of the cliff, Crowley lying tied up on his side by his feet. He looks down, watching Dean and John facing each other, likely talking.

_“Not long before you free me.”_

With a sudden feeling of dizziness, Sam falls backward.

“Get out of my head. Get out of my head,” he mumbles, covering his ears and squeezing his eyes shut. “Get out, get out, get out.”

_“I can’t Sam. You won’t let me.”_

Sam can see him. Larger than the cliff, his scales red as a blazing fire, his wings half the length of the forest. His eyes are bright like the morning star and his teeth sharper as the rocks of the Dead Mountain. Lucifer, the most feared dragon to ever walk the planet. Creator of Dark Fairies when Light Fairies refused to serve him. Thousands of years old with immense power and strength. Claimed the Great Forest as his own but failed when the inhabitants fought back. Especially one alpha Wolf.

Sam can see it, the Haven War. Creatures of the Great Forest fighting under one flag. Using every magic they could wield to lock Lucifer in the rock.

“Get out, get out, get out!”

Cas plays his pipes as Sam dances for him in the underground pool. Their first night together. Blueberries. The pond. Seeing him for the first time that night, hiding behind a rock. _But he came back to heal me. Why did he do that? Cas, please be okay. Cas, please be okay!_

\--

“Everyone has already moved out. I have to go, Cas,” says Balthazar, getting to his hooves.

Castiel pushes himself into sitting upright.

“I’m coming with you.”

“Don’t be stupid. You’re in no position to move, especially not halfway across the forest.”

“Balthazar,” Cas glares up at him,“help me to my feet.”

Balthazar can’t argue with that look.

\--

The sound of an army approaching from the forest booms in synchronized marching.

“Gabriel, you better hurry the hell up, cause we got company!” Dean shouts.

“I almost got it!” says Gabriel.

“You know, for only a few days of training, everyone’s making the faun army out to be really dangerous,” Dean comments.

“A faun can learn quickly and efficiently in a short amount of time, especially magic,” says Gabriel. “Physical combat would probably take another couple weeks. Unfortunately, they’re not looking for a fist fight so brace yourselves when they get here.”

“Easy for you to say!”

“Dean, go back to the pack and warn them,” says John.

“I’m not leaving Sam.”

“Do what I say just one more time, please. They need to be ready now. Gabriel and I will get Sam to safety.”

“What about all that crap about watching Sammy?”

“Well, maybe it’s about time I did too.”

Dean stares at him, unblinking for a moment.

“About freaking time,” he says, and turns to return to the cave.

“Dean!”

He stops to turn and look his father in the eye.

“Dean, I’m proud of you.”

Dean says nothing and runs off down the beach.

\--

“Meg, I can see the centaurs and their pathetic little army from here,” says Ruby.

“Just in time, too. One more minute and the sun will be directly in the sky,” Meg grins and signals for the fairies to move Crowley.

The former king growls a muffled protest through the gag, but is dragged to his knees nonetheless.

\--

Cas holds onto Balthazar’s horns as they run through the forest, Balthazar carrying him on his back.

“Run faster!”

“Unless you want me tripping over a root, don’t distract me!” But Balthazar does speed up his pace a little.

Cas’ head is pounding and he’s quite sure the shattered stump of his antler is bleeding again. He clenches his teeth and closes his eyes, hoping the oncoming nausea will quickly disappear. His hands tighten on Balthazar’s own antlers.

Balthazar slows down.

“Balth… don’t.”

“Cas, you’re not-”

“Shut up. It doesn’t matter right now. We have to catch up to them.” Cas kicks Balthazar’s side. “Now _move_ or I’ll get there myself.”

“You’d be dead before you could reach the beach.”

“Then you might as well carry me there.”

Balthazar sighs.

“What the hell am I doing?” he says before taking off again.

\--

“Meg, they’re here! Do the damn ceremony already,” says Ruby, watching as the fauns push through the final trees on the edge of the shoreline.

“Perfect timing,” says Meg before flying over to Crowley.

She grips a handful of hair and pulls his head back. She loudly recites the spell in a language Sam doesn’t recognize. He moves to interrupt but Ruby flies in front of his face.

“Tsk tsk tsk,” she smiles. “Don’t want to ruin the party just as we’ve gotten all the preparations done, do we?”

“You think I’m just going to stand here while you perform your stupid ceremony?” he growls and wraps a hand around her body.

Unfazed, Ruby mutters something. The stench of dark magic fills Sam’s nostrils and makes his eyes water. He takes a stumbled step back, letting her go in the process.

Ruby flies into his face and lands a fist into his jaw, knocking him to the ground.

“Now stay! Good boy.”

Sam growls up at her, rubbing his bruising chin. Meg’s shouting voice draws his attention. He turns his head just in time to see the blade in Meg’s hand come down.

He watches in horror as she slits Crowley’s throat.

It’s quick and efficient enough for the ex-king to bleed out within less than a minute. Crowley’s body slumps to the ground, his blood running down the rocks and seeping into the cracks.

A high-pitched screaming fills Sam’s ears. He clutches them, desperate to block it out. The scream morphs into a strange sort of laugh.

_“You’re almost mine, Sammy!”_

Sam doesn’t know if he, himself is screaming now or if that’s only Lucifer’s voice echoing in his ears.

\--

John looks up with wide eyes as Crowley’s blood stains the side of the cliff. The ground shakes, causing smaller rocks to fall from the cliff.

“I got it!” Gabriel shouts, grabbing John’s attention.

A stone ramp forms up the steep cliff, pushing sharp rocks out of the way for a smooth path. Right angles form along the ramp.

“And stairs!” he grins with pride.

“Gabriel.”

The youngest centaur turns to find his brother Michael standing at the tree line. Behind him stands Raphael and the fauns.

“I never thought you would betray us,” says Michael.

“I’m doing what’s right and that,” Gabriel points to the army, “isn’t right.”

“If you continue to defy us…”

“I’m trying to stop the bloodshed!”

“Which one of you is Raphael?” John steps in.

“I am.” Raphael takes a step forward.

“I heard you hurt my boy’s faun.”

“Nothing the impudent goat didn’t deserve.”

John growls and his eyes darken.

“I have to go save my son now, but I’ll deal with you in a moment,” John turns to the staircase and curses under his breath.

“Hey there,” Meg smirks before throwing a punch to John’s face, the force pushing him back into Raphael.

Michael lunges for Gabriel and grabs hold of him by the hair. Gabriel yells out something unintelligent and pushes his older brother off of him. Michael tackles him into the water.

The fauns cower back into the safety of the tree line. The Anna catches a glimpse of something run by them. Her mouth gapes open as she watches it run up the stairs.

\--

_“Sam so close. Sammy you’re so close. Thank you, Sammy. It’s time.”_

“It’s time, Sam.” Ruby grabs a fistful of Sam’s hair and pulls his head back. She mutters the same incantation Meg had before and raises the knife.

A high-pitched scream breaks Ruby’s concentration. She looks over the side of the cliff. On a vertical rock Abaddon lies impaled. Ruby looks up at the top of the staircase.

“Killed your little friend,” Balthazar says with a cheeky smirk.

Ruby releases Sam and flies toward Balthazar who smacks her away with the back of his hand. Ruby’s dagger bounces off the edge of the cliff with a _clank_ , and drops down into the water.

Cas limps over from where Balthazar and set him down to Sam; he turns the Wolf onto his back.

“Sam, Sam wake up!”

\--

“You might have height on your side, but I’m much quicker!” Meg grins, dodging every swipe John makes at her. Raphael tackles him into the sand.

John struggles in the centaur’s powerful arms. He elbows Raphael in the face then slashes at his eye. Raphael lets out a cry, rolling off the alpha, one hand clutching the side of his face. John jumps to his feet and glances around himself.

“Looking for me?”

Before John can react, the scent of dark magic and burnt flesh fills his senses. He falls face-down into the sand.

Meg smirks down at the fallen alpha and chuckles. The wind blows through her blond hair and the waves crash against the Dead Mountain.

“Should have listened to me, John,” she says before fingers come up from behind her and wrap around her body.

She kicks out her legs, but the hand just squeezes tighter around her. Meg’s breathing becomes difficult and her bones start aching under the pressure. Her leg snaps and she emits a cry of agony.

The hand holding her turns her around. Dean scowls down at her, teeth bared and a growl rumbling in the back of his throat.

“That was my father, you bitch,” he snarls. Meg is unable to scream as the claws around her squeeze tighter and snap her spine.

A single tear rolls down Dean’s cheek as he tosses Meg’s limp body into the ocean.

Gabriel puts a hand on his shoulder as Dean looks back on John’s lifeless body in the sand. He glances up at Michael and Raphael surrounded by Wolves, then to the fauns still cowering behind the trees. He looks up at the top of the cliff. He can see Cas holding Sam in his arms.

“Come on, Sammy.”

\--

Sam’s eyes are glossed over white. Cas leans down to rest his forehead against Sam’s. He mutters an incantation, causing his pipes to glow. A ribbon of gold light breaks off from the pipes and encircles the two.

The screaming erupts in Cas’ ears. His eyes squeeze shut and his hands fly to his ears.

“Sam!” he shouts over the screaming in their heads.

_“Sammy so close, so very close. Blood, I need your blood!”_

“I can hear him, too, Sam. Don’t be afraid,” Cas coos.

_“Mine!  Sam is mine!”_

“No, he’s not yours. You can’t have Sam. I won’t let you.”

Lucifer’s screaming grows louder. Sam’s body starts trembling.

“Sam!? Sam, can you hear me!? Sam! You’ve got to fight him!” Cas tightly holds Sam’s upper body against him. “Don’t leave me... Not after what we’ve shared together.”

The screaming suddenly vanishes and Sam goes still.

“Sam?”

Sam doesn’t move for a moment. Then his brow furrows. His eyes fly open and he sucks in a deep breath of air, nearly elbowing Cas' face in the process. He blinks a few times then settles his gaze on the faun at his side.

“Cas? Cas, is that you?”

Cas relaxes with a small smile.

“You’re all right, Sam. You’re going to be all right,” tears flow freely down Cas’ cheeks. Sam lifts a hand up to the stump on the side of Cas’ head.

“Cas, your antler…”

“It’s alright, Sam. It’s all going to be all right.” Cas looks down at the beach. Everyone is staring back up at them.

“We’re okay,” says Cas, “we’re okay.” He rests his forehead against Sam's and breathes a sigh of relief.


	11. Epilogue

“It’s getting dark earlier and earlier,” says Sam, plopping himself next to Cas. He hands the faun a bright red apple.

“I’m sure Dean will be able to lead the pack through the winter.”

“Honestly, I’m not worried about him. The first month after… what happened was rough on him, but the new leadership role has been good for him. It keeps him occupied. Plus, it’s nice to no longer have to worry about the humans attacking us, with the truce and all. I don’t think dad would have _ever_ consented to a truce with humans.”

“Dean is already a great leader.” Cas takes a bite out of the apple and offers it to Sam, who bites into the opposite side.

“These are perfect,” he mumbles through the apple in his mouth. Cas hums in agreement.

“Do you think we’ll ever see them again? Michael and Raphael?” Sam asks.

“Perhaps. Both honor the rules of the Great Forest, so if they do it’ll be if they can’t find anywhere else to go in their exile. Not much is known about the lands outside the forest, even for centaurs. I must say, I’m not as sure about the dark fairies crawling back into their clove to lick their wounds. Seems all their authority figures are dead, but they may try another uprising.”

Cas frowns and takes another bite of the apple.

“Maybe. I guess we’ll see. For now, let’s just enjoy this sunset,” Sam’s arm tightens around Cas’ waist. He leans down and kisses him. Sam can’t help but lick any excess juice off Cas’ lips.

The forgotten apple core is tossed into the trees of the orchard. The only sound in the area besides the lovers is the soft chirping of the crickets.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading! Thanks again to my BETAs!
> 
> Thank you once again to sammycolt24 for the fabulous art, which can be found here: http://sammycolt24.livejournal.com/6602.html 
> 
> Go check it out!


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